


Come For The Humans, Stay For The Crystal Gems

by CatEmpire



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aquamarine Redemption (Steven Universe), Aquamarine is an ass, Bonding, Cute, Dialogue Heavy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Slow Burn, Topaz is adorable, Tsundere, but she gets better, minor connverse - Freeform, they’re not exactly enemies but definitely aren’t friends at first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-02-19 01:36:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatEmpire/pseuds/CatEmpire
Summary: It was a simple mission. Gather humans for the zoo. Staying at a barn with a sarcastic Lapis and with an annoying but cute Peridot wasn’t part of Aquamarine’s plan.
Relationships: Aquamarine & Crystal Gems, Aquamarine & Steven Universe, Aquamarine/Peridot, Lapis Lazuli & Peridot, Steven Universe/Connie Maheswaran, Topaz & Garnet, Topaz & Pumpkin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83





	1. Turn Of Events

“Let’s see here, a Connie, a Sadie, a Lars, a mailman, an Onion, and My Dad. Where could the Connie and My Dad be? Topaz, help me out here.”

Aquamarine, perched on Topaz’s head, was thinking about the locations of those pesky humans, while the larger Gem stood guard, stoic and imposing as ever. Eventually they were ‘on the run’ again, as the humans had called it. They couldn’t stay in one position for too long, as the humans, mostly the ‘mailman’ were making too much noise.

Aquamarine decided to look for other humans, lest they come in the woods and do whatever they did. Aquamarine formed her water wings and made sure the wand was still on her hair. She flew over the forest, making sure to let nothing to escape her vision.

After a quick scan, she didn’t find anyone. Well, not the stuff she was looking for. She found plenty of living creatures and plants, but not even the ‘Connie’ and ‘My Dad’ she was looking for. She heard that humans hunt, but alas Aquamarine found none. 

The little blue Gem decided to return to her companion. 

“Topaz, stay here. I’ll look around this dump and see if any humans know who My Dad is. “ 

Aquamarine went back to Beach City and resumed her innocent facade. She looked for someone, anyone that knew who or even what My Dad looked like. Eventually she stumbled across a ‘restaurant’, as the humans had called it and flew up to its counter. 

A human male with blonde hair came over and asked Aquamarine if she wanted anything. She declined, stating that she was looking for something else. 

“Really? What is it then?” 

“Do you know what My Dad looks like?” 

“What?” 

“You know My Dad, right? What does he look like?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

This wasn’t good. Aquamarine had no other way to describe to the human who she was looking for, and no one here even knew who My Dad was. 

She jogged her memory, hoping to relocate some piece of vital information. At first, there was nothing, but she remembered that Yellow Diamond had mentioned something about a ‘Steven’ that listed the humans she was supposed to get.

*“Steven... Sadie.... Lars... Onion... My Dad..*

*Wait, could he and Steven be related, as the humans say? Lemme see..”*

“Do you know who Steven’s My... no, Dad is?” 

“Him? Yeah I know who he is. His name is Greg and he runs a car wash.” 

“What does the car wash look like?” 

“You know what it looks like when you see it. Look for the sign that has Greg in a car with a cast.” 

“Uh, thanks.” 

“No problem.” 

Aquamarine flew off to Topaz, giddy with excitement about the whereabouts of their second final target.

“Topaz, get up. We’re going to My Dad.” 

“This was a waste of time. We should be preparing for a fight. Whoever this is, she’s from Homeworld, she’s gotta be here for us!” 

Everyone was in silent agreement. These disappearances and this new Gem were sure to be tied together. Spending time drawing this new Gem was not the way to go. 

“She not though, she said she’s looking for her dad!” Steven was as perplexed as everyone else was. 

“What?” 

“But Gems don’t have dads,” Amethyst blurted out. 

Pearl stood up. “Well, in any case we should get going. We should spit up and look for her.” 

Steven had different thoughts. “I think we should stay together. If this is anything like when Peridot came she might have backup.” 

Pearl wasn’t sure on Steven’s idea. “Garnet, what do you think?” 

The fusion tipped her visor, then winced. “Gems, we’re going to Greg’s car wash. Steven’s right, we need to stick together.” 

There wasn’t much argument about that.

“Come out My Dad, we can hear you!” 

Greg was hiding behind his desk in the office space of his car wash. He was terrified. One moment the day was slow and peaceful, the other he was hiding for his life as a large, yellow Gem was banging on the door with another demanding that he come out. He preferred not to get involved with Gem stuff, but he knew these two wanted him for Homeworld. 

The banging subsided for a moment before the noise of a weapon slashing on the door could be heard. Before long the door was destroyed and Greg could hear loud footsteps coming down the hallway. He swore he felt the ground vibrate with the footsteps.

Before long, the two Gems were in his office space. There was a hand placed on the desk, ready to destroy it before the other Gem straightened her wand and pointed it at her companion.

“Ah, ah, ah Topaz! We wouldn’t want anyone to get suspicious, now do we? Besides...

... I see him already.” 

Topaz adjusted her eyes to the shivering man behind the desk. She shoved the desk and picked up Greg. 

He saw multiple arms and legs, wriggling and sticking out of Topaz’s body. He was done for, it was back to the zoo for him and for everybody else that was caught in this. 

Aquamarine laughed. It was too easy. “My, this mission was the easiest I’ve ever had! Even a bunch of Rubies could do the same!

Just you wait My Dad, you’ll be back in the zoo under permanent-“ 

“Aquamarine! Put Greg down!” 

She turned to see a group of three Gems the Steven, and another human, all weapons out. 

Aquamarine groaned. This mission was quite boring already and she wanted to leave the Earth as soon as possible. It wouldn’t do to have some rouge Gems get in her way. 

“Get out of my way you dullards. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something? Or are you the fabled Crystal Gems I’ve heard so much about?” 

“Steven, Connie, stay here. We’ll take care of this,” Garnet said before she dashed towards the two. Pearl and Amethyst followed suit. 

The three were stopped in their tracks, just before reaching Topaz. They were engulfed in blue light by Aquamarine’s wand. 

“You actually thought you kind hurt me, an Aquamarine? You dullards already have very outdated Gem weapons, what made you thought you could hurt me? Have you even come here with a plan I’m mind?” 

What she didn’t know was that Steven was formulating a plan with Connie. 

“So the plan is that you throw your shield at that Gem and I rush to get it,” Connie whispered. 

Steven responded with a nod. 

“Got it.” 

Steven threw his shield at Aquamarine and, as expected she dodged it. 

At this point, the blue Gem was becoming irritated by these rouges. “What was that? Did you think I would fall for such a-“

The shield returned like a boomerang, knocking Aquamarine’s wand off of her hand and almost got the Gem off of Topaz’s head.

“No no no no! MY WAND!” 

While Aquamarine was freaking out over the loss of her precious weapon, being powerless, and the Crystal Gems being freed, the wand was caught by Connie. She put it in her pocket.

The Crystal Gems began their assault. Garnet unleashed a flurry of punches, making sure she didn’t hit any of the captives’ limbs, Pearl struck with a barrage of jabs, and Amethyst had Aquamarine entangled within her whip. 

“You sorry excuse for a a Quartz! Untangle me from this whip!” 

Amethyst snickered. “You’re not on Homeworld anymore lil dude. You’re on Earth.” 

“I may not be on Homeworld anymore, but you and all your rebel friends will be coming with me to your shattering. Just you wait, you’ll be begging for mercy soon enough. Right Topaz?” 

That was followed by a wall being demolished by the former’s pugil stick. She shortly escaped with everyone except Amethyst hightailing after her. Only the two Gems remained in the car wash. 

Amethyst chuckled. “Sucks to be you. Got anything else to say?” 

The purple Gem tightened the hold of the whip on her captive. 

This wasn’t good. Any more would have Aquamarine being poofed. Her kind weren’t made to be durable, they were diplomatic Gems, absolutely unfit for any combat purposes.

“If you defeat me and Topaz, you’re asking for trouble. If a high ranking Gem like me suddenly disappears for no reason, Blue Diamond is sure to send backup for me.” 

“Fat chance of that happening. If me and the other Gems are out here, why haven’t Blue or Yellow come to Earth already? You’re no different.”

Just as Aquamarine was about to say something else, the Quartz launched her into a wall as hard as she could. After a few seconds of her waiting for the dust and such to subside, she went to see if her enemy was finally poofed. 

There, in the hole in the wall, was a teardrop shaped gemstone. It bore no cracks or other inconveniences, much to Amethyst’s surprise. 

She wasted no time bubbling it and sending it back to the Temple. She rushed back outside to join the fight with Topaz.

Needless to say, the fight was in Topaz’s favor. Garnet was struggling immensely with her, as she needed to be careful with her punches and the fact that Topaz could use her weapon freely without being bothered by the narrow hallways of the car wash.

Pearl was also having a hard time with Topaz, maybe even worse. She was already light by Gem standards, so that meant that a direct blow from the yellow Gem sent her flying. Sometimes literally.

Steven and Connie helped in their own ways, with Steven throwing his shield at Topaz, aiming for her head while Connie struck out with a quick, precise jabs. Greg was dropped off at the hole in the wall just before the fight. Amethyst had also arrived shortly after stopping Aquamarine, but due to her whip, she couldn’t do much of anything except provide a distraction.

Despite this, the large Gem had the strength to tackle all five members of the Crystal Gems and to handle all of them at the same time.

Things were not looking good until Steven came up with yet another plan. He threw his shield down and approached Topaz. He cleared his throat. 

Pearl looked at him, clearly worried. “Steven, what’re you doing? Stay back!”

“Hey, Topaz! I’m one of the humans you’re looking for!” 

She shot him a glance and shook her head, confused. Aquamarine never mentioned a human on their list called a Steven. Besides, she was too busy in blocking attacks of her enemies.

“Well, wouldn’t that other Gem by happy if you captured me? She seemed to be in charge of you.”

There was nothing, only another nod. This wasn’t going to get her attention. 

In another attempt to get Topaz’s attention, Steven summoned his shield once again and threw it at the Gem’s head. 

Again and again he did this. While it did cause the Gem some inconveniences, it still wasn’t enough for Topaz to even look at Steven. She was too busy on the other Crystal Gems to even consider him a threat.

This was his final attempt. He grabbed one of Topaz’s arms with his left arm, summoning the shield with his right, turned her around, and flung the shield at her face. 

The shield crashed into her face, blinding her for a second or two. She recovered from the pain quickly, but Garnet was quicker to launch an incredibly powerful punch that had her reeling. 

Steven couldn’t be ignored anymore. Topaz looked at the boy with anger in her eyes.

She unfused, dashed towards Steven, and fusion-engulfed him fully. 

This was it. The final part of Steven’s plan. 

He rested for a bit, gathering up his energy. It would take a lot of that to poof Topaz.

After a minute of resting up and mentally preparing himself for the task, he was ready.

He summoned his bubble, small at first, but it steadily grew as time passed. Right as it was near Topaz’s body, he shrunk it by a little amount, then unleashed all of in one burst. 

Topaz, in the other hand, felt something strange brewing inside of her. It was only when she realized she was doomed when Steven’s bubble emerged, and with it came two yellow gemstones and a cloud of dust.

The bubble went away and Steven quickly bubbles and sent the two gemstones to the Temple. He then collapsed, exhausted from all the power he had mustered and from fighting Topaz. 

Over all the noise of running, the stamping of feet, and his own headaches, Steven didn’t notice Pearl picking him up.

“Steven, Steven are you ok?!” Pearl was horrified by how Steven just let himself be engulfed by Topaz. 

“Yeah... I’m fine. Just tired from using all that power,” was all Steven could say. He wanted to sleep. 

“C'mon Ste-man, that was like, only ten percent of your power,” was Amethyst’s average attempt at encouragement. 

Pearl placed Steven back on the ground. 

“Steven, we’ll be searching around Beach City for any suspicious items or aircraft. These two Gems definitely came here with some sort of ship, so stay at home. Connie, that goes for you too.

“Right Miss. Let’s go Steven.”

The rest of the day went by in a flash. By the time Steven really thought about anything, it was already night.

He really should be getting some sleep. It wouldn’t look good if he was sleep deprived in the morning. 

But his mind was on those two Gems. Steven felt guilty for having those two bubbled, even though he knew it was necessary. 

He knew it would futile to talk to them. They wouldn’t listen to them, let alone he could actually reason with them. He needed a professional, someone who had experience with Homeworld Gems.

Steven realized that there was a Gem that could talk to the two. Peridot.

He had to wait until morning. Alongside sleep deprivation, Peridot never liked to be woken up in the middle of the night. 

Morning came, and Steven was all the more excited for today. He ran over to the warp pad and warped to the barn.

To his surprise, Peridot was already up, working on some meep-morp. She noticed the boy and gave a smile to him.

“Hello Steven, what a surprise it is to see you up so early today.”

“Hey Peridot. Could I ask you something?” 

“Anytime. What is it?”

“Can I ask you about Homeworld Gems?”

“Sure. Do you want to know about a certain Gem’s profession? What their gemstones are like?”

“No it’s something else... I think it would be better if I showed you it.”

After a few minutes passed by, Steven warped back with the bubbled Gems, with Lion trailing close behind him.

Peridot looked at the bubbles with confusion. “How did you get those bubbles...? Oh Lion. “

He took the two yellow gemstones and put the other one on the ground. He showed them to Peridot.

“Do you know what Topazes are for?

“Topazes are guard Gems. They can also be soldiers and escorts. They’re extremely strong, and you have two Topaz gemstones! You must’ve fought a fusion!” 

Steven put down the Topazes and picked up Aquamarine’s bubble. “And what’s this Gem for?” 

“Is that another Lapis Lazuli? Wait no... that’s an Aquamarine you have!” 

Steven was confused. “Are they big on Homeworld? Have high ranks?”

“Yes! Although weak, most Gems will bow down to the mere sight of them. They are diplomatic Gems and are not suitable for combat purposes, although they do have wands if they are threatened, just like my old Limb Enhancers.”

Steven went to pop Aquamarine’s bubble, but Peridot stopped him. “What are you doing?!”

“I want to see if we could convince her to join us. Maybe we can do it.”

“You can’t do that. It worked with me because I had nowhere else to go. Aquamarine probably has a ship. I wouldn’t be surprised if those Topazes are her guards.” 

Steven dropped the bubble, downtrodden. If it wouldn’t work for Aquamarine, it wouldn’t work on the Topazes.

Peridot noticed this sudden change in mood, and felt a pang of guilt inside her. It was never fun seeing Steven sad, so she thought of a solution.

“Actually, I’ve seen Topazes be fairly nice and accepting if the current situation benefits them. Maybe we can try that with one of them.” 

Steven immediately smiled. He picked up the bubble and popped it. 

Topaz immediately started reforming, gem floating back into place. When she reformed completely, she wasn’t expecting to see the eyes of Steven and Peridot.

She gasped and stumbled back. This wasn’t the car wash, this was somewhere else. She couldn’t find the other Topaz or her superior.

“Where am I? Who are your two?” 

“Hi! Hello.” The two greeted Topaz, much to her confusion. 

“Why am I being greeted so warmly? In fact, where am I?” 

“You’re just outside the barn. Let me show you.” 

“You, Peridot. Please answer my questions.”

“Gladly. Your partners are right beside you.” Topaz turned around and lo and behind, were the two bubbles. 

She felt a strong arm tug on hers. It was Steven. “Please, could you listen to us? We have something to say.”

Topaz sighed. “Fine. Just don’t hurt me.”

“We want you to join the Crystal Gems. You can stay at the barn.”

“Why? All I’ve done is steal humans and tried to hurt you and the others. And what are the benefits of living with the Crystal Gems if I stay?”

“Lots! You can stay fused with the other Topaz, you don’t have to listen to anyone, you can do whatever you want... anything really.” 

“Besides, the scenery on Earth is amazing. Much better than what you would find on Homeworld,” Peridot added in. 

She thought about that. She was already a permafusion most of the time, only unfusing  
when ordered to. And she hated her superior. It would do her wonders to get away from Aquamarine and spend time with others. 

She made up her mind; she was staying. No matter what.

“I’ve decided that I want to stay. If you really care about permafusions, then I’m in.” 

Steven smile became wider. “Good. And here’s that other Topaz.” He popped the other bubble. 

After the reformation, the second Topaz was as confused as the first. After a brief talk between the two of them about the benefits of being a part of the Crystal Gems, the two fused, happy as ever.

“We’re... no, I’m ready. Take me to them.”

Steven now held the last bubble and showed it to Peridot. “Should we do it? We have Topaz on our side now.”

Peridot nodded. “Sure. This Aquamarine won’t be much of a problem now.”

Steven popped the bubble. Like Topaz, the tiny Gem started reforming as soon as it was popped. It took a shorter time for her to reform, and before she knew it Aquamarine was staring right at the three.

“W-What happened? Where am I?” 

Peridot greeted her. “Hello Aquamarine. You’re outside the barn. Let me introduce you to it.”

“Wait a minute. I recognize you... no, it couldn’t be!” 

Even Peridot was confused by this. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re that Peridot that sent me that list of humans!” 

Peridot’s expression quickly changed from that of confusion to light hearted humor. “Oh yeah, I did send that to Yellow Diamond. Didn’t expect it to get sent to someone like you. Is there a problem with that?”

“Of course! Your pose! Your tone of voice! Even the way you stand confidently without your Limb Enhancers! What’s gotten into you?!” 

“I learned to live without them. That’s what.”

“This is a complete insult to the Diamond that blessed you with them! You’d be nothing without them!” 

“I’m still something without them. What about your wand?” 

“I would still have it if that Steven didn’t knock it out of my grasp...” Aquamarine growled, voice laced with venom.

“Well, I better get going. I’ll be introducing Topaz to the Crystal Gems. The warp pad is over there if you need me.” With that, Peridot and Topaz set off.

“No you don’t! Topaz, come to me right this instant!” 

Topaz didn’t respond. Aquamarine called out to her again, only to receive the same response.

The two warped to the beach house, leaving Steven and Aquamarine by themselves. Steven looked at her with joy, while the other looked at him with pure fury.

“You... do you have any idea what you’ve gotten me into?!” 

“Uh, no?”

“YOU brainwashed my guard into believing you! My wand was taken by one of you! I’ll be held hostage here!”

Steven ruffled the Gem’s hair, much to her chagrin. “It’s not as bad as you think. You’ll like it here.” 

“Don’t patronize me! This your fault! You know that! You’ll regret this Steven!”

Aquamarine was suddenly embraced in a light hug, to her embarrassment. She hoped no one was around to see this.

“Even though you hate me Aquamarine, I still like you. It’ll take a long time, but you’ll love planet Earth before you know it.” 

Aquamarine groaned. This wasn’t going well for her. This was going to either be the worst day ever or a good one at the best.

She was betting on the former.


	2. Completely Stranded

“Let me go, you cretin! I’ll tear your organic limbs apart, I’ll rip your face off, my anger has no bounds!” 

“Calm down Aquamarine, I won’t do anything to you.”

“That’s not my point! LET ME GO!”

Steven sighed. He knew getting her to agree on this would be hard, but she was especially resistant to his attempts to calm down. 

“If I let you go, will you calm down?”

“Yes. Whatever it takes to get out of your grasp.” 

“But, on one occasion.” 

Aquamarine groaned. Steven was slowly becoming too much to handle. “Ugh, what is it?” 

“Promise me you won’t run away the second I release you.” 

“Fine. Just let me out.”

With that being said, Steven released Aquamarine from his hug. The tiny Gem briefly contemplated escaping but brushed it off, as it would result in her being hunted down. She placed herself on his right shoulder.

“So what’s next? You’re going to put me in some kind of prison? Shatter me? Turn me into a servant for all of eternity?! Come out with it!” 

“No no, that’s not happening. I want to show you around Beach City. You know, get you to know the place.” 

“What? Why would you do such a trivial thing?”

“I just want you to see it. It’s really nice if you give it a chance. Also, I think you have a bit of apologizing to do.” 

Now Aquamarine was really confused. “What is this ‘apologizing’ you speak of? And why should I do it?” 

“Apologizing is when you say or feel sorry for doing something bad to someone. You tried to kidnap people for Homeworld.” 

“I don’t feel bad about that. Besides, it’s their fault for getting captured in the first place. Not mine.” 

With that, Steven got up and walked over to the barn. Aquamarine was still tense about going in there, as she had never seen a structure like that in all of her time on different planets and on Homeworld. 

The two were immediately greeted by barking and the sound of quick feet on the ground. While Steven knew what it was and chuckled, Aquamarine didn’t know what that barking came from. She flew down to investigate it.

Jut mere seconds later, a large, orange creative came face to face with Aquamarine. 

Aquamarine was even more confused by this. She already was familiar with animals and the flora on Earth, but she had never seen a sentient plant. 

“Uh, do you speak?” She was immediately licked by the creature and covered with saliva.

Aquamarine shrieked with terror and flew back onto Steven’s shoulder. She was just about ready to lose it with this place already. Her lip was quivering as she said, “W-What is this?! Why is it s-so disgusting?! Are all Earth creatures this disgusting?” 

Before Steven got a chance to respond, Lapis swooped down and picked up Pumpkin. 

“Sorry about that Steven, Pumpkin’s been a bit erratic these past few days.” 

Steven shook it off and chuckled. “Oh no, that wasn’t me that was screaming.”

“Then who was...,” Lapis’ voice trailed off as she noticed the small Gem on Steven’s shoulder. 

“Uh, who’s that?” 

“Oh! This is Aquamarine. I brought her here after she was bubbled yesterday.” 

“After you bubbled me, Steven,” Aquamarine said, irked by what happened to her yesterday.

She turned her attention to the Lapis right in front of her. 

“My, I never thought I’d be seeing a Lapis upfront. Especially a defective one.” 

“Excuse me? I’m apparently ‘defective’? Lapis tensed up and got a little bit closer to Steven. 

“Your very existence and choice of staying here is treason! How can you do such a thing? To defy your Diamond?” 

“What about you? What’s your reason?” 

“I came here to finish a mission I was assigned. Do you think I’m here because I want to be here? I’m still here because I’m stuck here, you imbecile. Now I have to learn how to adapt to this dump of a planet until I get off,” replied Aquamarine, her voice growing colder as she reached the end.

“I’m also stuck here too. Yet you don’t see me complaining. I would stay here rather than go back to Homeworld.”

“*Excuse me?*” Aquamarine was shocked by this. Any Gem who had the nerve to say this was brought to the Diamonds had short lives. 

She flew right up to Lapis’ face, inches away from actually touching her. 

Steven reached out to Aquamarine, wishing that this didn’t end up into a fight. Unfortunately for him, the little Gem noticed him and swatted his hand away. 

“Don’t meddle in this Steven. I can handle this idiotic Gem myself.” 

“Now I’m suddenly idiotic? I think you the idiotic one here!” 

Steven decided to back off from the two, as he knew that trying to stop them at this point would be futile. As much as he disliked not having anything to help with, he knew when not to get involved with stuff. 

The argument between Aquamarine and Lapis took a turn for the worse as it grew louder. It soon turned into a contest to see who could shout the most insults at the other. 

It ended in a couple of moments prior to the increase in volume. Lapis, now with a neutral expression, looked at Aquamarine for a few seconds, as if thinking what to do with her and whether or not to kill her. 

There was a quaking vibration to Steven only; Lapis was unaffected to it and Aquamarine was still floating up in the air and let only an “Eh?” when she heard the rumbling of something.

Mere moments later and a huge current of water was splashing on a large pink shield. After the tension had cooled down, the boy had his shield fade back. 

The two Gems stared at him before Steven grabbed the shorter one's leg and dashed out of the barn.

“Sorry about that meet you later!” was all Steven could shout as he ran out the front door. 

“Stupid annoying Gem. Wonder how Steven even finds these things.” Lapis picked up Pumpkin and went back to the armchair, picking up a book and trying to forget what happened in the past fifteen minutes.

After the fiasco with Lapis, Steven ran back to the warp pad, with him holding Aquamarine’s leg in the process. As the two were traveling through the warp stream, Aquamarine started a conversation between Steven. 

”What was that for? Grabbing my leg and then running off?” She jabbed a finger at Steven’s chest, clearly upset at the fact that she couldn't finish the argument. 

”Well, Lapis tried to attack you with water and you didn't seem to stop so... I got you out of there.” 

”Pfft. I would’ve won that trivial conversation if you didn't interrupt it.” 

The pair arrived back at the beach house. Steven remembered that Peridot and Topaz were supposed to be here and looked around for them. 

Aquamarine simply groaned. This day had already gone from stupid to even stupider in a short amount of time. 

The Gem once again decided to go back to Steven’s shoulder. She tugged on his right ear to get his attention. “Mind telling me what’re you looking for?” 

“Peridot and Topaz. They came here to see the Crystal Gems.” 

Aquamarine looked around the area. Yet there was no sign of the aforementioned Gems. 

“I don’t see them. Try looking up there.” She pointed up to Steven’s bedroom. 

“No no, I don’t see them up there. And I don’t hear anything either.” 

“Who cares about them? If they’re not here, they’re not here.” 

“I guess you’re right about that.” 

After some time had passed about the situation, Steven shrugged it off and went to the kitchen. There, he grabbed the ingredients for a sandwich. 

“I’m assuming this is the ‘breakfast’ you humans have at this time of the day?” 

“Yup! You want a bite once I’m done?” 

“You know very well that this thing is much bigger than I am, Steven. Besides, I’m not interested in human food.” 

Steven chuckled. “Oh alright.” 

After finishing the sandwich and gobbling it down, the boy reached for a pocket and pulled out a wad of dollars. “Let’s see here... yup enough for a donut.” 

Steven rushed out of the door, not hearing Aquamarine’s questions about what a donut was.

He arrived at the Big Donut shortly after. As he approached the shop's entrance he told Aquamarine to get off him. 

“Could you please stay by the tables here while I get a donut?” 

“Why?” Even though she hated being told to do something, the Gem obeyed and went to a table.

“Well... I don’t think Lars and Sadie would be very happy to see you. Because you know after you tried to kidnap them yesterday.” 

Aquamarine was starting to get Earth logic now, albeit slowly. 

Steven went in and bought a donut. When he arrived back at Aquamarine, he showed the dessert to her. 

“Is that what a so-called donut looks like?” 

Steven nodded, as his mouth was already full of it. He offered a bit of it to the Gem, and once again, she dismissed it. 

As Steven finished his donut, he gestured for Aquamarine to come back. This time, she went to go to Steven’s head. 

“Mind if I go on your head?”

“No problem with that.” 

As Steven departed from the Big Donut, the little Gem remembered a crucial part of her arrival on this planet. She landed her ship on top of a structure, one with thick, hard four-legged creatures for humans to sit on and around the top. She also recalled a child call it something around ‘Beach City Land’. 

Aquamarine grabbed the boys' hair to get his attention once more. “Listen up. I need you to go somewhere. 

This time, it was Steven who was confused. “Uh, where?” 

“I need you to go to a place with creatures that have four legs that humans can sit on.” 

He scratched his head, trying to see what place Aquamarine was referring to. “Sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. Could you say something else about it?” 

“It’s called Beach City Land or something around that.”

“Oh! It’s called Beach City Funland. And the thing you described was the merry go round. It’s not far, about a couple of minutes from here. Did you leave something there?” 

“Yes! If you take me there right now, I won’t say another word. I’ll do whatever you will.” 

Steven nodded and ran off to Funland. Whatever it was must have been something Aquamarine treasured. 

He reached Funland after a few minutes. As the boy was babbling on about the place and how fun it was, Aquamarine kept a close watch for the ship. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the two arrived at the merry go round, and there it was, the ship in all its glory. 

Aquamarine let out a small squeal of delight and formed her wings. Steven had noticed this and asked if something happened. 

“There! Up there!” She pointed up to the top of the merry go round. 

As Steven was about to respond, Aquamarine grabbed him by his shirt and flew up to it. 

But, something was off about it. She didn’t notice this at first, but the sides were riddled with holes. The most prominent one was double that of Steven. 

Aquamarine zoomed into the ship, not bothering herself about Steven’s well-being. She had to check if the ship had been damaged on the inside. 

Steven safely floated down, carefully navigating through the ship to avoid debris. Along with that, he noticed that the smell of smoke was present and that the top seemed to be shattered, slowly but gradually. 

He called out for Aquamarine. As he expected, no response. He called out her name again and was met with the same results. 

Steven decided to look for the Gem at this point. It wasn’t long before he stumbled across her, frozen in spot. 

“Hey Aquamarine, is something wrong?”

“M-My seat! T-The screen! Everything! EVERYTHING‘S DESTROYED!” 

It was true; everything was a mess. Alongside the crumbling walls, pieces of what could’ve been glass and the putrid smoke, the seat had been turned into nothing more than a pile of cyan-colored rubble, and the screen was shattered into a thousand pieces. There was near to nothing of it left. 

Just as hope seemed lost for the Gem, another memory came rushing back to her. There was an escape pod on the lower level of the ship. This was her last chance. If it was destroyed as well, Aquamarine was going to be stranded on Earth. 

She regained her composure and flew towards and down the descending staircase. Anything that Steven was saying or asking fell on deaf ears. Steven followed suit shortly after. 

The second level of the ship was as equally destroyed as the first level, only messier. The engine was smashed to bits and the escape pod was lodged into it. Blue fragments and shards of Gem material were stuck inside it. The walls were also smashed up, cracks both little and big littering them. 

Aquamarine looked at the place with pure horror and hopelessness. She slowly sank down to her knees and began to weep. 

“N-No... why?... why does this have to happen? To me?” 

Her cries gradually rose in volume as time went on. Despite Aquamarine’s intentions and arrogant personality, Steven pitied her. He went over to her to comfort the Gem. 

“There there Aquamarine, it’s not that bad. Even if you can’t go back to Homeworld, you’re welcome here on Earth and with the Crystal Gems.” 

“I don’t need your pity, Steven. Just leave me here to wallow in my failure and misery.” 

Only after Steven had said that and while he was attempting to help her did she notice he used the term ‘Crystal Gems’. 

“Wait. Did you say ‘Crystal Gems’?” 

“Uh, yes. Why?” 

“Are they related to you? Associates maybe?” 

“Well, they’re kinda my family and take care of me.” 

“‘Family’?” 

“You know... people you live with.” 

“Whatever. That’s not important. What is important is that what you know what they did after I was defeated and bubbled.”

“Well... they went to look for your... oh.” Steven backed off from the Gem. As soon as he said that, Aquamarine went from full of despair and hopelessness to full of unbridled rage and anger. 

“WHAT?! YOU KNEW THAT THEY WENT AFTER MY SHIP?!” Aquamarine was now tugging at the scruff and shaking Steven by it. 

Steven threw his arms up. “I didn’t know they would mess it up! I just thought they would investigate it!” 

“SO WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS EARLIER? WHY DID YOU TELL ME THIS JUST NOW?!” 

“As I said, I had no idea the Gems would leave your ship this bad. I don’t even think you’d care about this that much!” 

There was silence for a brief moment. Then, Aquamarine picked up Steven by his shirt and flew back up to the first level. This time by the back of it. 

“We’re going back.” 

“Maybe you should calm down a little-“ 

“SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW SAD AND ANGRY I AM!” 

The flight back to the beach house was swift and short, taking only a couple of minutes. Not that it mattered to Steven and Aquamarine, as the former was still worried about what would happen at the house and the latter was much too angry to care about anything else. 

After Aquamarine had stopped by the entrance of the beach house and afore towards the door, Steven stopped her and gave one last attempt at getting her to cool down. 

“Please listen to me, Aquamarine. I don’t want you to go in there like this. If you go inside all angry like this you won’t leave a good impression on the Gems.” 

“You won’t leave a good impression on me if you don’t come in with me,” Aquamarine retorted. Steven gave up on the thought of helping her and went in with her. 

What they saw shocked both of them. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Peridot, and Topaz were all sitting on the couch, with Pearl seemingly explaining something to Topaz, Amethyst and Peridot chitchatting and Garnet staying on guard as usual. No tension between them. 

It wasn’t until a few seconds had passed that everyone acknowledged Steven and Aquamarine’s presence. They greeted Steven, ignoring Aquamarine. 

“Hey, guys, what’s with all this? With Topaz?” 

“You mean this hunk of yellow bricks? Peri and she just came into here to introduce her to the C-Squad!” Amethyst was more friendly than Steven had anticipated, giving a friendly punch on the shoulder to Topaz. 

“Why yes, she’s been quite cooperative. As for you though...” Pearl’s voice had trailed off as she directed her gaze towards Aquamarine. 

“I don’t need news on how well my partners been doing. I want an answer to something else.” 

“Oh? Ask away then.” 

“Did you have anything to do with my ship? Big, cone-shaped, was maroon-colored.”

“Oh yeah! We totally destroyed it!” Amethyst had jumped up and made slammed her fist into her palm, making a crushing motion. “We smashed up everything that had a weird gizmo on it or had a button on it!” Garnet gave a supporting nod. 

“Amethyst.” Pearl has shot a cold glance towards the other. “But we did disable it to make sure you didn’t get away with anyone else.” 

Aquamarine looked like she was about to burst again but just sighed. “That settles it. Now I know to avoid you, miscreants, at all costs.” 

“Is there anywhere else I can go, Steven?” Aquamarine hissed his name like it was the most putrid word to exist. 

“Well, you have two options. You can stay here with me or the Gems, or the barn. You know, the big red building with Peridot and Lapis.” 

“I’m going to this so-called barn. I can’t stand you or you little Gem dullards.” 

She went to the warp pad, turning away from Steven and his friends. When she arrived at the barn, she made her way there. 

After she arrived, she came across Lapis, who was upon the top of the truck watching Camp Pinning Hearts. As expected, she was surprised to see her again. 

“Well well well, look who came back again.” 

“Look, Lapis Lazuli, I am not in the mood for you or whatever you have on store for me. Can... I stay here for the time being?” Aquamarine was embarrassed at saying this and turned her head away from the other Gem.

“Meh, sure thing. Just don’t break anything.” Lapis went back to watching TV. 

“Oh, and just what you might be doing now?” 

“Watching TV. Wanna try it?” 

“I don’t have anything better to do, so fine.” Aquamarine flew up to the truck and sat in front of it. 

“And I already don’t know what to do. Do I just stay up here and do nothing?” 

“Pretty much. You’ll get the gist of it soon enough.” 

As the humans started making long speeches about love and sorts, Aquamarine decided that although this was boring, it was much better than staying with Steven and her former friend. 

She would see what the days would have in store for her. Maybe then it would get interesting.


	3. Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aquamarine tries to get the grasp of Earth culture.

“I still don’t get it.” 

“Get what?” 

“Get anything! Based on what you’ve told me, how do you do it? Sit in front of this ‘TV’ for an hour or more? And without saying or doing anything?”

Lapis sighed. She had been explaining the concept of TV and what could be done with it to Aquamarine for the past ten minutes. She may as well have said nothing, based on the way Aquamarine was questioning it. 

“I already told you. I and Peridot sit here and watch TV. Just that, without doing anything. Is that so hard to understand?” 

“It’s not the reasoning that’s bothering me, it’s how you do this without moving or saying anything at all. Earth must’ve made you defective Gems broken.” 

Lapis fought an urge to strike Aquamarine on the spot. What did she know? Lapis wasn’t here because she wanted to; she was here because there was nowhere else to go. Homeworld was off the list after the experience with the then-antagonistic Peridot and Jasper. In fact, Peridot was more of a defective Gem than Lapis would ever be. The barn was quite literally the only place Lapis would consider home. 

Given her nature at the time being, Aquamarine wouldn’t understand a lick of what Lapis was saying, so she opted for a simpler response. 

“I didn’t have any choice left.” 

“Suuuure you did. Apparently, Homeworld wasn’t an option to you, huh?” 

Lapis decided to change the subject before things escalated from there. “Speaking of the TV, if you want to know about it so much, why don’t you go ask Steven about it? He knows more than I and Peridot combined.” 

Aquamarine was taken aback at this at first, but she quickly regained her composure. 

“I would never ask the little meat thing for help on anything! Even if I’m confused about this whole ‘TV’ thing, _I don’t need his help on everything_! He’s so sweet, it’s sickening!” 

“Duly noted,” Lapis went back to watching Camp Pinning Hearts, not paying any more attention to the smaller Gem. Aquamarine looked out towards the barn. 

“What do you even do in that building? From what I’ve seen in there, there’s just junk and nothing else there.” 

“Go look at it if you want. I won’t stop you.” 

Aquamarine decided that a trip around it wouldn’t hurt her. After all, the barn, as Lapis has called it, was reminiscent of some structures she had seen back on Homeworld. It wasn’t exactly built like them, but the resemblance was still there, nonetheless. They were used to store weapons and ships of sorts. She flew to the red building, hoping to find something of some importance.

What she found was interesting, in a twisted way. She found multiple objects with even more objects on them. They seemed to depict some kind of situation, although Aquamarine had no idea what in the world these things were supposed to be or represent. 

She went right back to Lapis, now with even more questions for her and about this ‘barn’. 

Lapis turned around to face Aquamarine, now with a smirk on her face. “Back already? That was quick.” 

“I can back here to ask you some questions, you buffoon. It seems like Earth really did crack you.” 

Lapis once again turned around to face the TV, before being stopped by Aquamarine.

“Fine fine, I take that back!” 

Lapis turned back to her. “Alright, what do you have to say?” 

“First, what are these things in the barn that you keep scattered around?” 

“What things? There are a lot of ‘things’ scattered around the barn.” 

“Maybe you’ll understand if I bring one of them.” Aquamarine flew off to get one of them. 

A few minutes later, she came back, holding one of the things she was talking about, decorated with baseball items. 

“This is what I’m talking about. What’s this and why is there so much like this around the barn?” 

Lapis gave a chuckle at the sight of the object. Even Steven was confused when he first saw one of these layings around the building.

“That, my friend is a meep-morp. I and Peridot make these. They represent memorable places and situations during our lives, to put it like that.” 

“Oh,” was all Aquamarine said. She was about to toss it over the side when Lapis snatched it from her grasp.

“Hey now.” Lapis’ voice grew colder, making the smaller Gem flinch. “These things are hard to make. Peridot and I would not be happy if you just broke it like some worthless piece of junk.”

“Junk? Seriously?” Aquamarine was both dumbfounded and disappointed that this Gem would treasure such a stupid thing. “Why in the world would you act so fond of something that looks so ugly and idiotic? The best thing to do would be to throw this thing out the moment you have.” 

“What do you know?! Maybe the best thing for me to do is to throw *you* out before I lose it!” 

The two were on the cusp of another argument when the warp pad flashed, and out came Peridot and Topaz. 

“Lapis, we’re back!” 

“Hear you loud and clear!” Lapis waved backed at Peridot. Aquamarine decided also to wave back, out of not knowing what to really do. 

“Wait. Please don’t tell me you're watching Camp Pinning Hearts right now! I thought we agreed on this!” 

“It’s an older episode, so don’t worry. Besides, there was nothing else to do. The only thing to do was to talk to her.” Lapis strained that last part of that sentence with glaring at Aquamarine, who was doing the same thing. 

“Oh, and can I talk to you in private? I need to ask you something.” 

“Sure.” 

Lapis flew over to the green Gem and made a hand motion for the two Gems to go somewhere else. Aquamarine, as expected, did not understand what Lapis was trying to say. 

“Shoo. Go somewhere else, me and Peridot need to talk about something.” 

“And who are you to boss me around?” Aquamarine looked at Lapis with even more contempt, while Topaz stood around, saying nothing. 

“Would it kill you to go inside the barn?” 

There were no words at that time as the two Gems went inside. Lapis picked up Peridot and flew to the back of the silo, dropping Peridot while she descended onto the ground. 

“I don’t know about those two,” Lapis said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “Especially the blue one.” 

“You mean Aquamarine?” 

“And the yellow one as well. What made you think to bring them here was a good idea?” 

“If I’m being honest, it was Steven’s idea. And I don’t see why we shouldn’t give these two a chance.” 

“Just because Steven gave them a chance doesn’t mean anything. Remember that Ruby? She stole our ship.”

“In her defense, it was her teams' ship. It would make sense to get it back.” 

“Didn’t you bust out of the side of the barn with a robot in order to contact Yellow Diamond? Say, what’s stopping them from doing the same thing? Aquamarine’s bound to do something like that soon.”

“I believe in them. If Steven’s cool with them, then they have a chance at this.” 

“Well... I’m going back. Just please watch your back,” Lapis said, voice trailing off. She flew back to the barn. 

Peridot eventually went back to the building. Despite the Gem assuring herself that everything would be alright, she did have the lingering fear of Aquamarine doing something drastic. From what little Peridot saw of her, it was a possibility. 

After entering the barn, Peridot spotted Topaz rummaging through some boxes and Aquamarine attempting to write in a notebook with a pen. Peridot felt a small twinge of pity for her; she was clearly struggling to write even a letter. 

The Gem decided to help her out. She approached Aquamarine, who didn’t even notice the footsteps of her. She was completely engrossed with the writing, trying to write just one word. 

It wasn’t until Peridot tapped on her shoulder that Aquamarine actually noticed her. Instinctively, she raises the pen right up to her Gemstone. 

“What do you want?” Aquamarine was completely serious on the pen, waving like some kind of weapon. 

Peridot chuckled. Aquamarine did not take that well. 

“Now what’s so funny? Have you got something against me?” 

“Aquamarine, Aquamarine,” Peridot replied, taking the pen away from the tiny Gem’s ire. “You seem to have difficulty writing. I think it would be best if I helped you.” 

Aquamarine’s anger quickly faded away, being replaced with a neutral expression. 

“I don’t need your pity. Especially from a Gem as low as a Peridot.” 

“It’s not pity. It’s called ‘helping others out.’ You’re obviously struggling to write even a letter in that notebook. Maybe I could help you out.” 

Aquamarine, with a sigh, handed the pen over to Peridot. 

“Fine. Let’s see if you could do any better. Not that you probably could do any better, considering you’re a lousy Peridot.” 

Peridot ignored her comments and started to write in the notebook. Aquamarine was surprised; she had never seen any Gem, and especially not some bottom tier Gem, to be able to write so quickly and neatly. Her eyes widened quite a bit at the sight of the writing. 

“Hey now, don’t you think that you’re still at this so-called ‘writing’ is good? Too good in fact?” 

“Me? This is nothing. Sure, I’m a bit better than Steven, per se. All Peridots can write just as good as me, some even better.”

“Oh,” Aquamarine muttered, her voice losing interest. “I forgot you Peridots had that feature implemented in the Limb Enhancers that can have you write on a screen.” 

The green Gem didn’t respond, and only gave a nod of her head. She continued to write in the notebook until she had filled out half of it.

“I appreciate all that writing you’ve done, but you still haven’t shown me how to improve mine.” 

“I was just about to get to that. Please, show me how you write Aquamarine.” 

Aquamarine grabbed the pen out of Peridot’s hands and began to write her own way. Peridot held in a laugh as she saw the small Gem holding a pen that easily dwarfed her. 

Her kind of writing was a mix of sad and funny, although Peridot would never say this to Aquamarine’s face. She flew above the notebook, drawing lines before inevitably slipping up and messing up the letter. There was a whole bunch of these failed letters at the bottom of the page. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you write at the bottom of this page. Why didn’t you write up?” 

“I just chose it first. I was about to go to the top before you came.” 

A few more strokes and a jumble of words later, Peridot decided it was time to help out Aquamarine. 

“Here, let me show you.” Peridot took hold of the pen, but she beckoned for Aquamarine to keep hold of it. 

“No no, please keep hold of it. Now, let’s go to the top of the page...” Peridot and Aquamarine simultaneously moved the pen back to the top of the notebook. 

“Now, look closely...” Peridot, with her being the dominant one over the pen, drew a diagonal line slowly, with another line the opposite way. Then, she made a horizontal line between the two lines. 

“And voila! You have yourself a capital A!” 

Peridot did the same thing, only this time for the lowercase A. 

“Ok, now do you think you can do it on your own?” 

“I think.” 

“Alright.” Peridot let loose of the pen. “You’re on your own now.” 

Now, Aquamarine wrote the letters slowly, using the new tactics she had seen from Peridot. 

Although a bit wobbly and curvy, Aquamarine has managed to create an uppercase A. In a few minutes, she had done the same to make a lowercase A.

Peridot clapped and gave a pat on the back for the tiny Gem. “Great! Although you might need a bit more practice, you’ve gotten the hang of this!”

For the first time since her impromptu capture, Aquamarine grinned. “Thanks. I’ll work on it.” 

From the corner of her eye, Peridot spotted Lapis also giving an impressed look and giving a thumbs up. 

“Now, is there anything else you’d like me to teach you about?” 

“Actually, there is something I’d like you to teach me about.” 

“Please tell me. I can teach you anything human concept in the world.” Peridot was letting her ego get the best of her right now, but she could care less at the time being. 

“Food.” 

Peridot’s expression quickly morphed into that of confusion. “What?” 

“You heard me. I want to learn more about the human substance they call food.” 

“Oh! Oh yes, I very much can tell you about human cuisines and such.

Food is essentially energy to humans, and as Gems do not have a need to consume food, they will not know what food is unless they come across it. 

Some food is natural, such as plants. Grapes, apples and bananas are some kinds.” Peridot raised a hand and her tablet came flying in. With a few taps, she had managed to bring up a webpage containing all of the fruits she had mentioned before. 

“As you can see, these are natural foods. Organic, if you would like to call them that.” 

“Huh. How big are these things?” Aquamarine was now on Peridot’s shoulder. 

“They’re not very big. The banana is long and tall, the orange isn’t much bigger than my hand and the grapes are very small.” 

“I see.” 

Peridot went on and on about the concepts, origins, and types of food. The Gem explained that meals, the other kind of food, were significantly more common than the natural ones. 

She didn’t stop there. She had knowledge of different kinds of foreign meals and took great pride in explaining and comparing them to other kinds. 

After well after half an hour of rambling and lecturing Aquamarine about this, she had finally stopped.

“Risotto, sorbet and gelato, and formaggio are all kinds of Italian dishes. Case in point. Have any questions?”

Firstly, Aquamarine questioned how Peridot could talk for that long without tiring herself. 

“Oh, it’s natural. I often give long talks like this with no problem.”

“Secondly, have you actually... you know, processed these things in your food hole?” 

“Oh stars no. I saw Amethyst searching up those meals on my tablet and questioned what she was doing. So, she explained it and got me to start researching them.”

“Amethyst? You mean that little mutant of a Quartz?” The cyan Gem’s voice has turned from one of interest to that of disguise and contempt. 

“Yes, I mean her. Do you have an issue with her?” Peridot had noticed that Aquamarine’s expression had changed quickly on the mention of her. 

Aquamarine quickly waved it off. “It’s nothing.” 

She formed her water wings and hopped off of Peridot's shoulders. “Anyways, I think I’m done with your teaching for the day.” 

“Can’t argue with that. Why don’t you come back tomorrow?” 

“Uhh... maybe.”

“Ok. See you,” Peridot replied with a wave and a smile. 

Aquamarine waved back and flew off. She had just noticed that she had forgotten her embarrassment until she was done with the teaching. 

What was that about? Had she actually liked being taught by a Peridot? 

And the grin. She had grinned without her even noticing it. 

Aquamarine’s hatred for the Earth also dimmed down. She almost didn’t mind being here. 

Was she going insane? Probably. 

“ _This place... seems a little less than junk right now_ ,” Aquamarine thought as she went back to the TV, and decided to give that another try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, risotto, formaggio, sorbet, and gelato are all kinds of Italian dishes. Look em’ up.


	4. First Time

It had been two weeks since Aquamarine and Topaz’s capture. Everyone expected something to go horribly wrong during those two weeks, knowing Aquamarine. Surprisingly, things got better, much to the surprise of everyone.

For starters, Aquamarine had noticeably cooled down during that time span. Within a week and a half of her ‘incarceration’, she no longer hated Steven as much as before, although she hadn’t completely forgiven him yet. No longer cursed him under her breath. Although she still stared daggers at him whenever he came to visit. 

Aquamarine and Lapis’ relationship had also improved, although they still got into the occasional argument. Aquamarine also didn’t insult her as much during the first week before her second week. One jab at Lapis and the mirror (which Peridot informed Topaz and Aquamarine about) got the worst of Lapis’ temper and got Aquamarine stuck at the bottom of that water hole for an hour. 

“You should’ve stayed in the mirror. It would’ve benefited everyone greatly,” Aquamarine had said after Lapis made a comment on how Aquamarine would be better off staying on Homeworld. She soon learned not to involve the mirror in anything about Lapis. 

Her relationships with others hadn’t changed much. Aquamarine still resented Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and Topaz to an extent. She outright refused to see them, even when Steven or Peridot had insisted. She also came up with nicknames for the three, those being ‘the mutant Quartz’ for Amethyst, ‘a Pearl that no one would want, not even a lowly Ruby’ for Pearl, and ‘the Thing’ for Garnet. Her and Topaz hadn’t changed much, although they didn’t talk or interact much. There was a simple ‘hello’ or ‘hey’ and that was it. 

Strangely, Aquamarine had gotten along well with Peridot. The two had become closer and warmer towards each other, although Aquamarine denied that she and Peridot were friends. The Gem didn’t even know what friendship was until Peridot had explained it to her.

Aquamarine also learned about the fate of her wand. Connie, Steven’s human companion had picked it up after Aquamarine lost her grip on it. The day after Aquamarine and Topaz’s defeat, she gave it to Pearl after she showed up for her training. 

“That blue Gem dropped this while we were fighting her. I wonder if you know what this is,” Connie said while giving Pearl the wand. She examined it, looking for any kind of hidden mechanism or button and found none. 

“This seems new by Homeworld’s standards. Not like anything I’ve seen before.” 

Pearl gave the wand to Amethyst, who had just came out of her room. The purple Quartz was about to ask a question before receiving the tool from Pearl. 

“You know what to do with this. Treat it like it is yours.” 

“Got it.” As if on cue, Amethyst went back to the room and searched for a mound of junk to add it to. 

Topaz, on the other hand, hadn’t changed much. She was still the stoic and quiet Gem the Crystal Gems has fought against on that faithful day two weeks ago.

What had changed was that she was a lot more open and kind than before. She also made quick friends with the Crystal Gems, mostly with Garnet. She and Steven were also on good terms. Topaz had also attempted to reconnect with Aquamarine one time, but the tiny Gem swatted her off, stating that she didn’t need Topaz’s help and was already content with Peridot.

Topaz was also curious about how the Crystal Gems have survived the Rebellion, as she thought that all of the remains Gems on Earth had been wiped out. The Gems simply explained that was not the case. 

“But the Diamonds themselves said it was true! I don’t understand,” Topaz said while scratching her head. 

“Gems like you were lied to, Topaz,” Garnet replied, stoic and unchanged as ever. “The Diamonds most likely used false information to lead everyone in the wrong direction.” 

“Looks like Homeworld hasn’t changed one bit since I left,” Pearl said with a mischievous grin. 

Topaz has been awaiting this day for some time now. Today was the day that she would see Steven fuse with someone, presumably with one of the Gems. 

When Garnet explained that Steven could fuse with one another, Topaz was blown away. She was no stranger to the concept of fusion and such, but a human fusing? It sounded like something straight out of a wild tale. But Garnet confirmed that such a thing could happen, and she promised that she would see it. 

This day was the one. Topaz would see Steven fuse, and she was all the more excited about it. Her mind frequently wandered off to that specific thought, attempting to visualize the event of him fusing. Topaz could never get a clear picture of a fusion between Steven and one of the Crystal Gems. 

It was still morning, around nine AM, so Topaz quietly walked out of the barn to avoid waking up the others. With her general heaviness and with the barns planks being old and creaky, it was no easy task. 

Upon warping to the beach house, Topaz made her way up. She found Garnet on the sofa with a grin on her face. 

Garnet patted the right-side sofa. “Come sit down Topaz.”

Topaz obeyed and sat down. Following that, there was silence, with no one else appearing or coming down to greet the two. 

Topaz broke the silence first. “Where will I see the fusion between Steven and one of you? Here or in your rooms?” 

“There is an area called the Ancient Sky Arena. Have you heard of it before, Topaz?” 

Topaz shook her head. “Afraid I’ve never heard of it before.” 

“Me neither. Pearl told me about it and I have been there before. It was a battleground for some of the first Gem battles during the Rebellion. This is where Steven’s fusing will take place.” 

“Rebellion? Is that a kind of war you fought in, Garnet? There was never any Earth Rebellion mentioned and the Diamonds seemed to never answer any questions about it.”

“It was a war for Earth. I’ll tell you the details later.” 

As Garnet finished with her answer, Steven came down from his room, making a beeline for the fridge. 

“Good morning Steven,” Garnet said as she waved at him. 

Steven batted an eye towards Garnet. “Morning Garnet. Hi Topaz.” 

It took a few seconds for Steven to realize who was there. He turned around, confused about why Topaz was here, and at nine in the morning at that. 

“Topaz? You’re here?” Steven rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. 

“Oh, uh hi Steven.” Topaz gave a weak smile averted her gaze from the boy. “ _This must be what humans call embarrassment_ ,” she thought. 

“Lemme guess... you’re here for my training, aren’t you?” 

Topaz was shocked. Steven must’ve noticed, because he said “Don’t worry about it, Garnet told me you’d come here. But my training doesn’t start until twelve.” 

“You did?” Garnet replied with a nod. 

Steven headed back to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and started searching for ingredients for breakfast. He pulled out a jar of peanut, a jar of jelly, and a knife. The only thing that was missing was the bread.

“Garnet, have you seen where all the bread went?” 

“Amethyst ate it all, just before you woke up.”

Topaz stayed on the house, waiting eagerly for the event to come. She mostly stayed on the couch, listening to what Garnet and Steven had to say on the topic of fusion and sword training. It was there that Steven revealed that he did not participate in sword training, instead, Connie benefited from it more. 

“Wait. You mean that someone else trains with you?” 

“Yup! I already have a way to fight, although I prefer to just defend.” Steven summoned his shield as an example. “Connie’s the one who fights with a sword.” 

“Connie... who is that? One of your human friends?”

“You’re right on Connie being one of Steven’s friends,” Garnet responded. “Steven also has feelings for her... like how your components are.” 

Topaz chuckled while a blush was growing bigger on Steven’s cheeks by the minute.

“Garnet...” Steven said as he put a hand on his face and failed from stopping a grin appearing on his face.

Aside from that specific comment, nothing important happened until Connie showed up with her sword. Topaz took note of her. 

“Connie!” Steven ran over to her and gave her a hug.

“Steven!” Connie returned the embrace. 

“Connie, someone is coming to visit our training. And it’s not who you think it is.”

“Garnet?” It was clear that she hadn’t been informed of Topaz’s presence. 

“I think you should see for yourself.” Steven moved out of the way to reveal Topaz, who was staring intently at who Steven was talking to. 

The yellow Gem got up and walked over to Connie. “Um... I’m Topaz. Nice to meet you.” She reached out her hand for a handshake.

Connie took her hand and shook it. It was clear that both were in an awkward situation and the fact that Topaz intended to take about half of the town onto space did not ease Connie’s nerves at all.

The tension in the room seemed to dissipate when Pearl entered the room. Her eyes looked at Topaz for a moment, not appearing surprised, as if she had expected her to come, and went over to Connie. She beckoned for Connie and Steven to come, as she was already at the warp pad. 

Garnet got up and gave Topaz a tap on her knee, indicating that it was time to go join the three. The former picked up a sign that was sitting right next to her, which read ‘GO STEVEN + CONNIE’ that Topaz never noticed. 

After the five were at the pad, they warped to the Sky Arena. Topaz looked around, taking in the scenery at internally gawking at how old the place was. The floating Diamond insignia, the cracked stone and pillars, the way the whole place floated without any sign of technology made it feel that the Gem has stepped into a different era. 

Pearl must’ve noticed that Topaz had her mouth slightly open at the Arena, because she started to monologue about the whole place about its history and what not. Topaz found it hard to keep up with what she was saying, as the words kept spilling out like it was natural for her.

“...of course, it’s now a husk of its former self, but it was once a grand location, one that even Blue Diamond visited on one occasion.”

“ _Aquamarine would be squealing out of delight if she were here._ ” The thought brought a grin to the bulky Gem’s face. 

The five reached the bottom of the Sky Arena. Garnet grabbed Topaz’s hand and jumped up to the sides of the ancient place, which turned out to be suitable seats for the two. 

From there the two could see that the training had started already, Connie with her sword out and Steven with his shield.  
Pearl summoned the Holo-Pearls with their own swords shortly after. Soon the bottom of the Arena was filled with the sounds of steel meeting steel and bursts of dust as the Holo-Pearls fell one by one. 

It soon got to the point where it became nearly impossible to see the two fight, as the Arena was filled with dust and could only see brief specks of Steven, Connie, or the Holo-Pearls.

Topaz went down to get a better look, but no before Garnet stopped her. 

“Please wait. It won’t be long.”

Topaz noticed the sign Garnet was currently holding. She could see the ‘STEVEN + CONNIE’ well enough, but what got her eye was the name ‘GO STEVONNIE’ on the back of it.

“Who’s ‘Stevonnie’?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” Topaz tried asking more questions about this ‘Stevonnie’, but Garnet remained silent. Whoever it was, was someone the Crystal Gems wanted to keep a surprise.

Eventually all of the Holo-Pearls were gone and the only ones left were quickly slain by the duo of kids. By that point, Pearl had gotten a sword of her own and leapt into the battlefield. Once again the battlefield was filled with noise.

“ _That Pearl..._ ” Topaz let the thought float around in her head as she watched the white Gem fight the two humans. To much of Topaz’s surprise, she was proficient in sword fighting, easily avoiding Connie’s blows and quickly wearing down Steven, forcing him to rest for a little before rejoining. 

After a few minutes of sword fighting, Pearl ended up as the winner of the duel, with both Connie and Steven laying on the stone surface. Pearl put down her sword and helped Connie up. 

Topaz was stunned by the display Pearl showed in her sword fighting. In all of her time of serving Homeworld, the Gem had never seen such mastery over a non Homeworld weapon. Topaz was confident in her own skills with her pugil stick, but she would be lucky to land a hit on Pearl.

Another thing that struck out to Topaz about Pearl was her speed. The lanky Gem dodged all of her pupils attacks, even when it seemed like a hit was inevitable. That kind of speed was something Topaz could only imagine.

Eventually the two got up and re-equipped their weapons and went back into their fighting stance, but not before Pearl stopped them. She was saying something to them, but Topaz had to lean in to fully hear what she was saying.

Alas, Topaz couldn’t make out what Pearl was saying before Steven and Connie began to dance. The bulky Gem had no idea what this was and she was two seconds away from asking questions about this before the two humans were engulfed into light. What Topaz saw next, she had no words for it.

There was a single human down there. It was as if the both of them had fused into one. Before Topaz acknowledged that they were one. 

She turned over to Garnet, who was now smiling at the sight of the fusion. The sign had also now turned to the side with ‘STEVONNIE’. 

“Is that what I think it is? Is that Stevonnie?” Despite being informed that Steven could fuse with someone else, that didn’t do anything to lessen her surprise.

“Yes,” was all Garnet said. She was focused on what was happening below. 

Stevonnie was fighting the Holo-Pearls once again, except this time they were faster and more efficient in clearing them. Within only a minute of fighting, most of them had been defeated, with only a few still in battle. 

Topaz was shocked on how much stronger and faster Stevonnie was than Steven and Connie. At times, it seemed that the human fusion was flying across the battlefield and stabbing through Holo-Pearls left and right. 

The battlefield was once again left in a mass of dust, both from the Holo-Pearls and natural dust that the competitors kicked up from all the running around.

Afterwards Pearl stepped down from wherever she was and gave a clap. From what Topaz could see, the battle was over. 

Garnet got up and began to walk down, the sign still in her left hand. Topaz followed suit. 

As the two Gems got down from the sidelines, Topaz states at Stevonnie with awe. What she had seen was not possible, to some extent. She wanted to know more about Stevonnie, how they were even possible, and more about Steven. 

She tapped Garnet on the shoulder and asked her if she could go over to the fusion. Garnet smiled and replied “Go ahead.” 

Topaz approached the fusion, at first not knowing what to say. She wanted to ask a bunch of them, but many of them were illogical or downright stupid.

So she decided to ask only the important ones. How this fusion came to be, how did they come up with the name ‘Stevonnie’, and if they had a weapon of their own.

Stevonnie noticed the Gem and waved. Topaz was frozen for a moment, then waved back and took a deep breath and continued on.

After a moment of stuttering and catching her breath, Topaz got Stevonnie’s attention. The yellow Gem decided to be frank with the human.

“So, how did you come to be?” 

Stevonnie was taken aback by Topaz’s blunt starting question, but they simply smiled and answered her question. 

“Well, you see, Steven and Connie were on a beach one day. Steven had been dancing with the Gems and couldn’t fuse. He met with Connie on the beach and was saying that fusing was hard and was sad over his failure. They danced... and the rest is history.” 

“Wait a minute, could I ask you something?”

“I’m listening...

“So wait... if Steven is a human male and Connie is a human female...

“Mhmm... 

“...then what kind of human are you? A she-male?” Topaz nearly chuckled at the thought of that, but kept a straight face in front of the fusion.

“As I’m technically two people in one, I like to use they/them pronouns.”

“They/them?” Topaz put a finger to her chin, a bit perplexed on someone using such pronouns. “A bit odd, I must admit, but I’ll use them in your case.”

Stevonnie chuckled. “Excellent.”

“If I may ask, how did you come up with your name?” 

“I actually didn’t come up with it myself. Amethyst did. She’s good with that kind of stuff.”

“Amethyst? You mean the short purple Quartz, right?”

“Yeah.” 

The two of them could hear Pearl calling out for them to come. They were leaving the Arena and going back to the house. 

Stevonnie promptly unfused, leaving Connie and Steven holding and rushing towards stairs. Topaz followed after them. 

She still had one last question for them. “So, Steven, do you remember that thing Garnet had said about you? About being in a relationship with Connie?”

That elicited a blush from both Connie and Steven. Steven put a hand through his hair and gave a small smile. 

“Is that true?” Topaz was now speaking in a whisper, presumably to avoid getting Connie’s attention.

“Well... I do like her. I’ll give you that.” Both Steven and Topaz shared a chuckle at that.

The group warped back to the beach house. Topaz said her goodbyes to everyone and mentioned that she would be back for more training and even asked if she could train under the guidance of Pearl. 

“Well, from the little time we saw with that weapon of yours, it would seem that you’re proficient with it.” 

Pearl smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Topaz thanked Pearl and warped back to the barn. It was two in the afternoon by that point, in which the three residents of the place, Peridot, Lapis, and Aquamarine were all watching Camp Pining Hearts.

Aquamarine was the first to notice Topaz. “Where in the stars were you?” 

“Oh, I was just with the Crystal Gems. You know, Steven, Pearl, Garnet, Connie.” 

“Who’s Connie?” Topaz didn’t answer that question, leaving the tiny Gem irked. 

“Connie’s some girl Steven likes,” Lapis said while keeping eyes on the TV. 

“Hey Topaz, we’ve got some space for you. Wanna come join us?” 

“Sure. I’m coming up!” 

As the bulky Gem got on to the platform to watch the show, it shook, startling the three and nearly knocking down the TV, earning her a look of contempt from Aquamarine. 

Topaz could care less about the look, as her mind was on Stevonnie. She was still, to some extent, surprised on the whole event. Topaz wanted to know more about them and see what they were capable of. 

She would get a better look of them next time.


	5. Change Of Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All it takes is one encounter to change someone.

Aquamarine was the very best Gem there was.

That was a fact. She knew it better than anyone else and embraced it. Never there was a situation or problem that Aquamarine couldn’t solve or fix. She was the best Aquamarine on Homeworld, and no one knew it better than her.

She would often brag about her accomplishments, making sure that every Aquamarine knew to respect her. While the other Aquamarines often got tired of her boasting, none of them dared speak out, for they were fearful of the consequences that followed.

After Aquamarine got her new ship, she was completely convinced that she was the best. Her boasting knew no ends, and it caused the entire cast of Aquamarines or the ones she was assigned to, to slightly resent her.

And all it took was one mission to shatter her worldview into a million pieces.

Once at the top of the Gem hierarchy, she now stood at the bottom of Earth society, reduced to a husk of her former self. It was soul-crushing, and Aquamarine would never stop hating herself for falling so low.

Most of all, she hated everyone that lead to her downfall. Steven. The Crystal Gems. Even Topaz to some extent. If it wasn’t for Peridot, she probably would’ve never stopped hating Steven and the others.

Peridot wasn’t like the others. She was kind, friendly, and the first to treat her like an equal other than Steven. It was like the Diamonds has reached out a hand, offering her another chance. A shot at not being a complete failure.

“ _And look where it got me._ ” Aquamarine ceased her reminiscing about her old life and focused on the object in front of her.

It was nine in the morning. Peridot and the others were still asleep, and Aquamarine was careful not to wake the other Gems up, especially Lapis. She had already made the mistake of abruptly waking her up. One wrong move and she would store Aquamarine in a water bubble until she felt like it was enough.

The TV flickered for a moment, then it was on Aquamarine’s preferred content; Camp Pining Hearts. The small Gem at first despised the show, due to its corny nature and its bland characters, but as there wasn’t much to do in the barn, Aquamarine decided to make the most out of it.

She looked towards Topaz, deep in sleep with Pumpkin sleeping next to her. The pet warmed up to Topaz rather quickly, often resting near her and licking her cheeks on occasion. Aquamarine would rather stay away from her.

All in all, Aquamarine couldn’t complain about the current state of things. Best stay quiet and enjoy being with these three before things get worse for her.

Shortly after, Peridot stirred awake at nine-thirty. Even after waking up, Peridot remained in her position, too tired to move a muscle. She yawned and spotted Aquamarine at the corner of her eye and waved.

“Morning Aquamarine.”

Aquamarine batted an eye towards Peridot and waved back. “Good morning Peridot.”

“Whatcha doing?”

“The usual. Watching that thing you call Camp Pining Hearts.”

“Really?” Peridot yawned again and rose up. “You know we have specific time dates to watch that thing,” Peridot said while taking off her visor to rub her eyes.

“So? It’s not my fault we barely have anything to do around here.”

Aquamarine turned off the TV and laid on the ground. “Seriously though, what do you even do here? The only things I see is to talk to those wretched Gems and watch this show.”

“Well, when I was first here, my first priority was to build a drill to stop the Cluster from emerging. After that, it was mostly trying I to make up to Lapis after what I’ve done to her. “

Aquamarine looked at her with a look of confusion. “The _Cluster_? You must be joking.”

“I’m completely serious. Steven and I had to stop it before it emerged, as it would tear the Earth from the inside out once it emerged.”

Aquamarine barked a laugh. “You’re crazy. From what’ve I’ve seen it’s nigh unstoppable. You’re lying. You did give me a good chuckle though, I’ll give you that.”

“If I ever get a chance, I’ll show you it. It’s encased in a huge bubble. You won’t believe it.”

Aquamarine ignored the last statement. She had enough of Peridot’s drivel.

The two laid on the ground, staring at the ceiling for a bit longer. Peridot grabbed a Camp Pining Hearts comic while Aquamarine stayed in her current position.

The latter’s mind wandered off to her life before the botched mission. It was trivial, yes, but Aquamarine did whatever she could to pass the time.

Peridot threw the comic away after ten minutes and laid aside Aquamarine. For a while, the two remained like that, enjoying each other’s company.

Time passed and Lapis was awake before they knew it. She did a couple of stretches before picking up a book. The blue Gem looked around, looking for Peridot and Aquamarine. When she spotted them, she gave the two a wave.

“Morning, you two.”

The two Gems said their “good mornings” and continued on. Shortly after, Peridot’s face lit up.

“Hey, Aquamarine.”

Aquamarine groaned. “What is it?”

“I have an idea of what we could do.”

“Spit it out.”

“You might be angered by it though.”

“What are you saying? That doesn’t give me a good idea of whatever you’re talking about.”

“What if we went over to the beach house...”

“Don’t you dare say what I think you’re about to say-“

“...and go over to a Kindergarten?”

“What? A Kindergarten here?” Aquamarine was up at this point, water wings up and running, slowly flying away from the green Gem.

“Aw, come on Aquamarine, stop overreacting. You’ve said that there were Kindergartens all over the galaxy right? There’s one on Earth.”

“You must be delusional if you think a Kindergarten can even exist here! This planet couldn’t even supply one, even all of the Earth’s resources were piled into said place, it still wouldn’t work!”

“What’s with you and the possibility of something like that? Don’t tell me you still don’t believe it, even after Peridot told you numerous times,” Lapis said. She had closed the book she was reading and had her attention on the tiny Gem now.

Pumpkin was starting to wake up now, rolling around little by little and starting to make little barks and growls here and there. Lapis picked her up and put her in the blue Gem’s arms.

Lapis shot Aquamarine a dirty look. “Aquamarine, you’re waking up Pumpkin. Stop being so loud.”

“Say that to Peridot! She’s the one who started this all!”

Lapis’ eyes narrowed at that statement. “Now you’re just trying to pin the blame on her now. Knock it off.”

Topaz was also waking up by now, letting out a small groan, not bothering to get out of her current location. She looked at the four with confusion.

Just as Aquamarine was about to say something to Topaz, Peridot decided to explain the situation to Topaz before things could get any worse.

“Argument. Nothing to see here Topaz.”

“Ah.” Topaz didn’t try to pry into the conversation any longer.

Lapis summoned her water wings and began flying up to the higher level of the barn. Before she was actually at the higher level, she grabbed Peridot by her hair and pulled her up to the second floor of the barn. She put Pumpkin on the side.

“I really should’ve said this at the start of this whole thing. There’s something I need to talk about, me and you. About Aquamarine.”

“If you’re wondering whether or not she’s actually gotten better, she has, just not towards Steven.”

“And that’s my problem; her refusal to believe anything you tell her about Gem stuff. Also her undying hatred towards him. You told me he’s the reason why she’s stuck here, but I have a feeling you’re not telling me the whole story.”

“I am telling you the whole story. What Steven and the Gems told me anyways. I’m sure she’ll cool down by the end of the week.”

“That’s what you said last week. I have no problem with Topaz, she’s fine and can stay here, but Aquamarine has kept her snobby attitude towards us ever since. Except you for some reason. I don’t know what she sees in you, and I’m still not entirely sure what you see in her.”

“She’s in a way like I when I was captured and bubbled back at the Temple, don’t you think? I’m confident that with enough time and patience, things will change.”

“You weren’t hateful towards Steven though, you were resentful towards the Gems. That is a big difference. I get that change does not happen overnight, but that little brat doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.”

“Lapis, please let me do this. I know that you practically owe Steven everything after freeing you in that mirror, but everyone can change. Aquamarine is no exception.” Peridot nearly got on her knees.

After a long silence, Lapis took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ll trust you on this. But mostly, I’m just worried about you. I don’t want you to be hurt trying to change Aquamarine, for the better or worse.”

“Thank you, Lapis.” With that, Peridot got back down to the first level of the barn.

Aquamarine watched as Peridot landed back into the lower part of the barn. She was no longer as angry as she was a couple of minutes ago, but she still loathed the idea of visiting Steven.

Peridot beckoned for Aquamarine to come with her. Aquamarine made no argument, for she already knew that trying to fight it was futile.

The two made their way out to the warp pad. Aquamarine noticed that Peridot was no longer as cheerful when she was at the barn. Aquamarine didn’t know what Lapis had said to her that had made her mood drop so low, but she didn’t like it. She enjoyed Peridot's enthusiastic personality, a secret that she only shared with the Gem herself.

As they were traveling in the warp stream, Aquamarine decided to find out what exactly Lapis had said to Peridot. The small Gem got the latter’s attention and begun their conversation.

“What did that dullard tell you over there? At the barn?”

“Lapis? She just told me that you haven’t changed much towards Steven, that’s all.”

“She doesn’t know anything. Tell me, has she been captured and forced into staying at a lifeless rock?”

Peridot sighed. This was one of Aquamarine’s favorite remarks to use during a particularly heated conversation.

“Lapis does have a point though. It’s been two weeks and you still haven’t gotten better, at least to him, at any way.”

“I am better to him. You just don’t see it. Lapis has no say in this.”

“There’s also your snobby attitude towards everyone except me. That hasn’t changed a bit since you arrived here.”

There was no remark on that one. Peridot was grateful for that.

Shortly after the conversation ended, Aquamarine and Peridot arrived at the beach house. It was still quiet, as no one was awake at the moment and the Gems hadn’t exited their rooms at the moment.

The two searched the house, looking for someone here. No luck, as the place was as dead as a doornail.

The two Gems looked at each other before looking back at the scene. It felt wrong in a way, like they were both trespassing.

“No ones here. Let’s go back.” Aquamarine was already flying back towards the warp pad. Peridot stopped her.

“Why? It’s not like Steven is required to come. Don’t get me wrong, it would be wonderful if he could tag along, but after my last experience with the Kindergarten with him, he wouldn’t be too thrilled.”

Aquamarine’s patience was quickly running out. How many times was she going to come back at her like this?

Maybe that’s why she finally snapped and gave Peridot a piece of her mind.

“Why do YOU care so much about that little brat? You act like he’s _so_ important to everyone, and that no one could exist without him! Stars, you’re even worse than I thought! I knew you held him in high regard, but you’re being downright codependent!”

Aquamarine got closer to Peridot’s face. “I. Do. Not. Want. Him. In. This. PERIOD!” Aquamarine ended her rant by jabbing a finger in Peridot’s gemstone.

“And I thought you changed for the better,” Peridot murmured.

There was silence and tension following Aquamarine’s outburst. Both of the Gems averted their eyes from each other, Peridot out of embarrassment and Aquamarine out of anger.

Five minutes later and there was no sign of Steven waking up or the Gems exiting their rooms. Peridot made her way back to the warp pad, as her cheerful attitude felt like it was stomped on.

“Let’s go then. I’m not in the mood to go to the Kindergarten.”

Before Aquamarine had a chance to respond to that, there was the sound of feet on wood. A few seconds later Steven was down in the living room and spotted Peridot and Aquamarine.

He stopped and gave them a confused look. It quickly changed into that of Steven’s signature smile. He waved to the duo as he began walking towards them.

“Hey Peridot! Aquamarine! Nice to see you here.”

Peridot waved back to him. “Hi, Steven.” Aquamarine didn’t bother talking.

“What are you two doing here? First Topaz was here on the couch with Garnet and now you too.”

Peridot gave an embarrassed smile. “Please don’t get the wrong idea. I was simply going to show Aquamarine the Kindergarten here.”

“Ohh, so that was Aquamarine who was yelling like that? Thought it was you.”

“We had a little argument. Nothing much.” Peridot replied while looking over to the small Gem, who was, in turn, looking at the former. ‘Little’ was an understatement.

Steven didn’t seem to notice this, much to Peridot’s relief. It would make the current situation three times as worse if Steven tried to help Aquamarine with her hatred of the boy.

Steven’s face turned to that of worry, realizing what Peridot had said just now. “Wait, you mean you’re actually going to the Kindergarten?”

“Look, I know what happened last time...” Peridot and Steven had not forgotten one bit of what happened to them during their first visit to the place. Those Cluster Gem fusions still haunted Peridot’s dreams, and tee same could be said with Steven as well.

“...but that’s why I wanted to go with you. In the case of an attack, you can protect with your shield or bubble. That is if we encounter any of those forced fusions. We run if those are spotted, no questions.” Aquamarine groaned at the first part, but it was cut short by the second.

“Forced fusions? What are you talking apart? Are they something like that ‘Garnet’ Topaz loves oh so much?”

“They’re- you know what? Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”

With some reluctance from Aquamarine, all three of them warped to the Kindergarten.

The vibe of the location immediately set in after they arrived. If the house felt empty, then it was nothing compared to the Kindergarten. There wasn’t a speck of life anywhere on the place, only large rock formations and numerous holes. It felt like the group wandered into a graveyard.

Steven was the first to be affected by the overall vibe. Within seconds his face quickly dropped the friendly expression and turned into a grimace.

Peridot and Aquamarine were also affected, just not that much as Steven. Peridot swore that the Kindergarten felt even more sinister than before while Aquamarine was on Peridot’s shoulder with a surprised face slowly creeping up her face.

“Huh. You weren’t lying about the whole Kindergarten thing after all.”

“More the reason you should believe me more often.”

The group began their trek into the Kindergarten. While Peridot was lecturing Aquamarine about the history of this particular one and the Beta Kindergarten, Steven kept his eyes peeled for any of those Cluster Gems that attacked them the last time he and Peridot were here. Thankfully, those things didn’t seem to be here.

As the group traveled further into the desolate area, the unnerving aura that seemed to hang in the air was starting to intensify. Sweats broke out between Steven and Peridot while Aquamarine was shaking, although she denied this.

Steven decided that enough was enough and that it was better for them if they headed back to the house. If any of the Gems found out were Steven was, he would never hear the end of it. Even the thought of the Gems worrying about him being in a foreign location scared the living daylights out of him.

The boy turned his head towards Peridot. At this point, her rambling had ended. As the two looked at each other, it was clear that they were thinking the same thing. No words were needed; it was time to go.

Peridot tugged on Aquamarine’s dress to get her attention. It worked, as the tiny Gem stopped gazing at the strange rock formations and injectors that littered the place and gave Peridot her full attention.

“What is it?”

“We need to go. Now.”

“Oh? And why is that? We haven’t even been here all that long.”

“Who cares about that? Look, me and Steven have a really bad feeling about this place. There’s no saying what could happen to us here.”

Peridot may as well have not said anything. Aquamarine shook it off with that same look of anger she had on her face when Peridot mentioned Steven at the house.

“Like I said before, who cares about what Steven thinks? It’s an unnecessary burden on us and frankly, it’s stupid.”

Aquamarine flew up to one of the holes in a wall. Peridot’s eyes widened in horror as she saw her friend enter it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!”

“Oh please. You’re always shifting between this is dangerous and this not. This is a hole, there is nothing her-“ There was a sound, a scream, and dust floating out of that hole. Aquamarine’s gemstone fell out shortly after.

Peridot stifled a scream while Steven ran out to catch it. He bubbled the object and placed it aside.

Peridot walked over to were Steven was. She picked up a rock and aimed it at the very hole Aquamarine was poofed in.

“I’m going to see what exactly is in there,” the Gem explained.

She tossed the stone into the hole. It was immediately destroyed, chunks of it flew out. And then whatever was inside poked its head out, its four luminous eyes staring out at the terrified two.

It jumped out of its dwelling. Steven and Peridot now got a good look at it. It black with spots of dark purple and was the shape of a large Hercules beetle with intricate designs all over its body. It had four huge yellow eyes, a pair focusing on each of Peridot and Steven. The pincers were as big as Steven. Its gemstone was nowhere to be found, but Steven saw a faint glimmer on its underbelly and guessed that the object was there. Steven would’ve thought it was cool if the thing wasn’t staring right at him.

The pincers were strong enough to pick up a large rock and throw it at the pair, as seen when it did exactly that.

Steven screamed and picked up the bubble while summoning his shield. The rock split into several chunks of stone upon impact.

Steven unbubbled Aquamarine and placed the tear-shaped gemstone into his pocket and ran while taking Peridot’s arm.

The monster reacted immediately; it dashed towards the two with speed that should not be possible for something as large as it. Sooner or later, it was going to catch up to Steven.

Steven summoned his shield once more and threw at the monster. The beast roared and stopped for a moment. Steven wasted no time and leaped towards a hole. It was risky considering what had just happened, but the only choices left were to continue running or to fight against the corrupted Gem.

After Steven landed in the hole, he dropped down Peridot, who was now breathing heavily, took out Aquamarine’s gemstone, and set it on the ground, but not before checking it for any cracks. There were none, much to Steven’s relief.

Aquamarine reformed quickly after. She scratched her head, looking for some kind of recognization. She found nothing, only Steven and Peridot looking at her.

“Steven? Peridot? Why are you two here?”

Steven was the first to speak up. “We saw you being poofed and your gemstone flying out of that hole. Long story short, you were attacked by a corrupted Gem and we got out of there before anything bad happened to you.”

“What’s a ‘corrupted Gem’? Was it those eyes that looked at me before crushing me with those long things?”

“Kinda. See, these things were once normal Gems. But then something happened, and now they’re like this! Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and me are keeping them bubbled until we can find a way to turn them back to normal.”

“All of them are like _THIS_?” Aquamarine pointed a finger to the sounds of the screeching Gem. It sounded like it was going on a rampage.

“Yeah. In fact, we should get going. It’ll probably find us.”

Steven looked over at Aquamarine. “Hold on.”

Aquamarine scoffed. “How many times do I have to say this? I don’t need your help.” Aquamarine summoned her water wings and crossed her arms. “I can fly just fine.”

She took Peridot’s arm. “And I’ll take Peridot. I don’t trust you.”

Steven simply nodded. He leaped out of the hole with Aquamarine following behind.

He landed into another one. Aquamarine stared at him with a puzzled look.

“For stars sake... now what are you doing?”

“I can’t fly like you, Aquamarine. I need to jump from one home to another to ensure I won’t fall down.”

Aquamarine was about to comment on that, but she just shook her head. “Whatever suits you.”

Steven motioned for Aquamarine to move out of the way. She did just that and Steven continued his jumping spree.

The whole thing continued on for half an hour. Steven didn’t know how far he and the two Gems were in the eerie location, but based on how long it took just to get back to the warp, they must’ve traveled longer than they thought.

When the warp pad came back into view, Steven finally allowed himself a smile. They would soon be in the cozy and safe known as the beach house. No more corrupted Gem chasing them, no more bad feelings about being in the Kindergarten, just safety.

Steven landed on the ground at last, nearly collapsing in sheer exhaustion. Who knew jumping around for long could be so tiring?

Aquamarine dropped Peridot as well. The former seemed exhausted as well, breathing heavily and wiping sweat off her head.

“Good riddance. Now lets get out of here.”

Aquamarine flew over to the warp, her flying shaky. She was stopped in her tracks when a stone hit her right in the head.

The small Gem collapsed. The three looked behind them and stared in horror as the corrupted Gem from before was right behind them.

It roared and sprinted towards Aquamarine, now with full murderous intent. Aquamarine screamed and covered her eyes. She didn’t want her last vision to be that of a monster shattering her.

When Aquamarine mustered up the courage to open her eyes, she was not expecting to be in some kind of pink bubble. She was wondering if this was the afterlife Peridot explained to her before she spotted Steven.

He was the one controlling this bubble. Aquamarine let out a moan, and Steven decided to take a look. When he saw that Aquamarine was fine, he smiled before his bubble took another blow.

The monster was striking the bubble repeatedly. It was persistent, not stopping in the slightest or looking for other ways to break it.

Steven himself wasn’t doing so well. He sweating heavily, and he looked like he would faint at any time.

Noticing this, Aquamarine started to brainstorm a way to defeat the beast without severely hurting herself or Steven.

She noticed a rather large chunk of rock to the side. While Aquamarines weren’t made for outright combat, they still had the physical prowess to lift objects much bigger than themselves.

Aquamarine flew up to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around. “What, Aquamarine?”

“Cease this uh, thing. And make sure to know that thing back. I have a plan.”

“Ok...” With what little of his power he had left, he popped his bubble, causing the beast to be blown back. With this precious moment, Aquamarine three back Steven and made a dash for the rock.

The Gem threw a much smaller stone to get the monster’s attention. While the corrupted Gem was preparing for another attack, Aquamarine lifted the rock, albeit with some difficulty.

The monster did not hesitate; it ran towards Aquamarine at full speed. As it was about to collide with her, Aquamarine suddenly flew up, making it confused for a second. It was met with the large stone after it had looked up and seen Aquamarine, now flying towards it with the object.

It was immediately crushed by it and there was a cloud of dust shortly after. After it cleared, the corrupted Gem was no longer moving, making only the occasional twitch of its leg.

It let out a low growl before poofing. The gemstone, now viable after the second cloud is dust was cleared, was black all around.

The whole place was silent after that, save for the breathing of the three. Eventually, Steven stumbled over to Aquamarine and bubbled the gemstone to the temple.

They stood there, not knowing what to say or do. Steven then looked over to the other and smiled in what seemed like an eternity.

“Thank you so much, Aquamarine. If you didn’t know what to do...” Steven’s voice trailed off. It didn’t take a genius to know what would’ve happened.

“No problem... Steven. Glad I could help.”

Steven looked at her still, and that was starting to unnerve the tiny Gem.

Aquamarine decided to ask. “Umm... is something wrong? Have I done something to displease you.”

“You know... I wasn’t expecting you to actually save me there.”

“And what does this mean? I tried to save you, that’s all. I wasn’t about to let you die, that’s for sure.” It took a minute for Aquamarine to process what just came out of her mouth.

“W-Wait! It’s true that I saved you but I didn’t want Peridot to die or myself please don’t take this the wrong way-“

Steven chuckled. “You’ve changed, Aquamarine. I’m proud of you.”

Aquamarine’s face at first was hot with embarrassment. She didn’t know what was causing this, she had never felt the emotion before, but it turned into a small smile later.

“Heh, thanks Steven.”

Peridot rejoined the two on their way back.

Peridot couldn’t hold it in any longer. After the three got back to the house, Peridot’s emotions got the best of her and she confessed.

“This is all my fault. If I turned back like Aquamarine said, we wouldn’t have gotten in this mess. Steven, I am very, very, sorry for this.”

Steven didn’t respond, but Aquamarine did. “Don’t blame yourself. None of us could’ve predicted that thing to come after us.”

Peridot stood there, stunned by Aquamarine’s response. It lacked the condescending tone that her voice normally had.

By the time Peridot regained her composure, it was clear that Aquamarine was expecting a reply from her.

“Uh, sure. We didn’t know what was out there.” It came out was half-baked and didn’t sound the best, but Aquamarine didn’t seem to notice.

The Gem remained on the warp pad while Steven and Peridot were off it. She gave the two a smile and a wave.

“I’ll be going to the barn now. See you later?”

Peridot waved back. “See you later.”

As the Gem was engulfed in the warp stream, the other two looked at each other, both with bewildered looks. Had Aquamarine really said that? And be completely honest with it.

Steven decided to address the elephant in the room. “So... Aquamarine. She really has changed.”

“Yeah. What’s gotten into her? Normally she would be grumpy and curse you for bringing her in this.”

“Maybe it’s because I saved her? She did the same thing for me.”

“Possibly. I’ll look into it later on.”

“I should get going, Steven. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Peridot disappeared into the stream. After that harrowing experience, Steven finally allowed himself some rest.

His mind turned to Aquamarine. How she acted during the fight. How she saved him. He too would look into it.

He was just happy she had a change of heart.


	6. What’s Gotten Into You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aquamarine changes. Lapis is curious.

It had been some time after the fateful encounter with the corrupted Gem back in the Kindergarten. Normally, things would’ve gone back to normal, Aquamarine to her usual snarky and snobby self and Peridot to her nerdy self.

But they didn’t. At least on Aquamarine’s side. And that was what intrigued Peridot. 

It had been a week since the incident. Neither one had spoken about it, and Lapis and Topaz hadn’t known what happened until Peridot told them. 

“So why is Aquamarine acting weird? She’s actually kind and not loud for once. She’s even lost her usual look. You know what look I’m talking about.” Topaz supported the statement with a nod.

“I’m just as lost as you are. Something happened with her last week, but I don’t believe it had that much of an impact on her behavior.”

“Wait, what happened with her? And where did you go last week?” 

“Me, Aquamarine and Steven went to the Kindergarten. We had an encounter with a corrupted Gem, poofed it, and came back. By the time we got back to the house, Aquamarine seemed to have a complete change of heart.”

The two didn’t pry further in the matter. Even after a week, Peridot still didn’t have a clue on what could cause such a drastic change in behavior. 

So she settled on asking her about it. It would be simple, ask her about it and hope for the best. 

More than once had Peridot nearly backed out of this. She was nervous, as Aquamarine never enjoyed going into touchy subjects and her mood could make the fastest U-turn she had ever seen.

She was sitting next to a box, invested in a Camp Pining Hearts comic book Peridot had dug up for her. The cyan Gem was hooked quickly, and at least an entire hour was dedicated entirely to it. 

Peridot sat down next to her and grabbed a book of her own. She skimmed through the pages, pretending to be absorbed in it while eyeing Aquamarine. 

Peridot scooted over to her. Her attention was still on the book, to Peridot’s relief. Peridot took a deep breath before proceeding on. 

She tapped Aquamarine on the shoulder.  
She turned around to face her.

“Yes, Peridot?” As with her voice over the course of last week, it lacked the arrogant tone it previously had. It was no longer condescending and gruff, but warm hearted and light. 

“I want to... err... ask you a question.” The familiar feeling of dread once again settled in. The ‘point of no return’, Steven had called it.

“Well than, what is it? Sitting around like that isn’t going to tell me anything, like what you’ve been doing for the past few minutes.”

“That encounter with the Gem back in the Kindergarten, did something happen to you?”

Aquamarine chuckled. “No no, nothing happened. Nothing like what you imagine happened to me.”

“Aquamarine, I’m serious here. If anything did happen, you can tell me. We’re friends, are we not?”

Aquamarine’s eyes drifted off for a moment. When they came back to face the Gem, they were more serious than a minute ago, but instead of an annoyed look Peridot had expected, it was more of a neutral one.

“Let’s just say that I had a change of heart. I realized that Steven genuinely cared for me and wasn’t just my captor. That’s the reason I’ve changed.”

“Took you long enough.” Peridot’s voice came out more harsh than she would’ve liked. Again, Aquamarine didn’t seem to notice. 

“Yeah.”

With that topic done, the two went to go do their own thing. In the back, Topaz with a bit of a stunned expression, while Lapis grinned. She was equally as surprised as Topaz, but she wasn’t going to show it.

She had never seen someone take such a big change in behavior before. Peridot would always be number one in that regard, from a dangerous robotic Gem to an erratic goofball. And Aquamarine, to a lesser extent. 

Lapis turned to face Topaz. “So, what do you think of Aquamarine now?”

“I’m surprised to say the least,” Topaz said while stroking her chin. Lapis chuckled, it was always amusing to see either Topaz or Aquamarine try to emulate common hand motions. “She’s not like how she used to be. At all.”

“How was she during the trip to Earth? You say she was cruel, apathetic, even sadistic to some extent.”

Topaz sighed and averted her gaze from Lapis. This was a touchy subject for the larger Gem. Lapis immediately regretted asking the question and held her hands up. 

“Wait, I take that back. I know this isn’t an easy subject for you, but I was curious. This is my fault.”

“No no, you don’t have any reason to be sorry. I’ll tell you.

Assuming that you haven’t been back to Homeworld in some time, you’re probably unfamiliar with Aquamarine. She’s your typical commander type Gem, strict with little room for humor or anything else, really. You’ve served under a commander, correct?”

Lapis nodded. Jasper was all it took for her to make a vow to never return to Homeworld. 

“Aquamarine was bad, very bad. You couldn’t say that without getting shattered in the spot. She was snobby, power hungry, and just all around nasty to work with. I was lucky, she liked me and we became good partners back on missions. Although she still didn’t like me very much.

Like Garnet, I am a permafusion, as Steven and Peridot call it. Even though fusion is taboo, for someone like me who is constantly away on missions, it’s ok. Although I still have to unfuse when I get back. 

Aquamarine wasn’t too happy when she found out. She would make snide remarks about myself and my status as a fusion, and she made no attempt to hide the fact that she loathed me.”

“But I thought you were a friend of hers? What’re you’re saying is contradictory.”

“As a partner. On Homeworld, there is no such thing as friends. Just partners, inferiors, and superiors.”

“Ah, got you.” While Lapis had little to no information on present Homeworld, from what she saw of Jasper she could guess that it was true. 

“It’s awful. Aquamarine saw me nothing more than an object and as a stepping stone. She didn’t care about what she had to do to complete her objective, if it helped, she did it.”

Topaz rambled on about the past Aquamarine and how horrible she was, while Lapis sat there, taking it all in. 

She was dumbfounded by how terrible Aquamarine was. Lapis wasn’t sure if Topaz was a completely unbiased source of information, but she was the best source she could get. 

Topaz ended her lecture a couple minutes afterwards. She was out of breath, and she wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead.

“Wow.” For such a quiet Gem, Lapis was surprised on how Topaz could spew out so much information in such a short time.

“I guess you could say that I’ve been holding this in for some time. I’m glad I could talk about this with you.” 

“No problem. See you later.” With that being said, Lapis and Topaz parted ways.

“ _That’s new._ ” Lapis kept her eyes on Aquamarine. She was laughing now at some joke Peridot had made about the Camp Pining Hearts comics not being exactly canon, but that didn’t ease the tension in Lapis’ body. 

She was still suspicious of her. Lapis had seen her put on an act like this in the past before. After all, Navy had done the same exact thing when Steven introduced her to Peridot and Lapis. Based on what Topaz told her, this was fairly common of her to do this, using a facade to get something she couldn’t have. 

So she decided on waiting on until something suspicious happened. It wouldn’t be long, that would be certain. Aquamarine was impatient and preferred to do things quickly. 

Time passed, and nothing noteworthy happened. Lots of talking about Camp Pining Hearts, ships and fan theories, but there was not a hint of Aquamarine pretending to be nice. She was, for once in her existence, actually kind to someone not named her ego.

Lapis gave up on trying to find a hint of a facade and went back to her own devices. Soon after, Aquamarine came back, now holding a pile of comic books.

Lapis was quite absorbed in her thoughts at the time, so she didn’t notice the books tumbling down from the Gems hands until the last moment.

She caught them and placed them on the ground. Aquamarine gave her a look of relief.

“Thanks Lapis.”

“No problem.” Lapis took a second at the comic books and saw that it was a part of Peridot’s favorite pile of comics. She picked one up and looked at Aquamarine.

“Where did you get these? They’re Peridot’s favorite Camp Pining Hearts comics. She almost always have these with her.”

“I asked her for some of them and she listened. Why, are you interested in these?”

“No particular reason. It’s just that, well, you know, she’s Peridot. The biggest nerd on this side of the planet. Even if you ask for these, she won’t hand them unless you’ve got a good reason.”

Aquamarine shrugged. “I don’t know where you got that. I asked her for these and she obliged. Have you had any botched attempts?” 

“A couple. Why do you have so many?”

“I told her at three or four that it was enough, but at that she didn’t listen.”

Lapis took yet another look at the pile. There were ten books, much more than Aquamarine could handle at a time. 

“ _What?_ ” Now this was confusing Lapis. At almost a month, Peridot should know better than to supply Aquamarine with so many objects at once. She could handle single digit objects well enough, but clusters of objects weren’t Aquamarine’s specialty. 

“Say, could I ask you a question?”

Aquamarine raised an eyebrow. “What is this about? Peridot and I? If so, you’re better off spitting it out right now.”

“Has something changed between you and her? You’ve been acting weird as of lately.”

Aquamarine let out a laugh. Not one of those rough, humorless laughs she used to give, but a genuine one. 

“Dear, you must be mistaken. We have just become closer to one another. As friends, mind you.”

“ _Dear? Since when does she use dear to refer to anyone_?” Aquamarine must’ve noticed the puzzled look on Lapis’ face on hearing her say that because she had a smirk on her face not long after that.

“Don’t worry about the ‘dear’ part, I just like the word. Expect me to say that to you again.”

“Didn’t hear you say that Peridot,” Lapis muttered. Aquamarine didn’t seem to notice, as usual.

“Well, nice chat with you. I’ve got to get started on these,” Aquamarine stated as she pointed towards the stack of comic books. “Peridot says they’re good.”

“See you too. Bye.” 

The two went back to their own activities, Aquamarine to those books and Lapis to whatever she liked. 

Yet, despite immersing herself in whatever she could do, be it drawing, reading, chatting with Topaz, or tending to the crops, Lapis’ mind never truly went away from Aquamarine. Her personality seemed too strange at the moment.

Going from little more than an annoying brat to a friend overnight wasn’t sitting well with Lapis. At least with Topaz she was already onboard with the Crystal Gems, but Aquamarine was too much of the stereotypical commander type Gem Topaz to simply go through a heel turn in such an short amount of time.

Lapis began devising a plan to see if Aquamarine had truly become a better person. It was pointless, she knew. But the thought would stay there, nagging at the back of her head until something was done. 

She would invite Aquamarine for a session of good ol' bonding together, and gradually pry into her as the time passed. And what better way to bond than to tend to the small pseudo-farm? Aquamarine lately had been interested in the flora of Earth, what could grow and what could not. She had asked Peridot for information on the matter, but on what information Lapis could get on the matter, Peridot turned her down, replying that Lapis was the one better suited for information about farming.

Of course, this was something the blue Gem wasn’t about to ignore. This was a one time opportunity. If she didn’t go through with it, there may never be another chance.

After a few hours had passed, Lapis decided that it was then time. She first did some stretches; she hadn’t been out of that position for some time now and it wouldn’t be good if her hydrokinesis was sloppy. 

She then looked for Aquamarine, thankfully the task wasn’t hard as she was leaning against a box. By the looks of it, it seemed like she was either resting or sleeping, which Lapis would see for herself. 

Lapis made her way to the small Gem. As she got closer to her, her movements became slower, as she didn’t want to wake up Aquamarine if she was snoozing. She had already known from Peridot how grumpy one could be if they were waken up during a nap.

As Lapis pokes her head around the box, she saw that Aquamarine was indeed sleeping, or at least it seemed like it. Lapis was both relived and disappointed; relived that she wouldn’t have to deal with Aquamarine for the day and disappointed that she wouldn’t have the chance to get into her. 

So, as quietly and slowly as she could, Lapis began to turn into the other direction. She didn’t even make it out of there, as Aquamarine’s eyes shot open. 

“Who’s there? Lapis, is that you?”

Lapis muttered a curse under her breath as she turned around. Aquamarine’s eyes were wide open, not slowly opening up like normal.

Lapis’ lips quivered slightly. It was creepy, in a sort of way, as Peridot, when she was still new to Earth customs tried sleeping like this.

“You know, that’s not how you sleep. It’s weird and honestly creepy.” 

Aquamarine blushed, a dark blue quickly appearing on her face. “O-Oh? That’s not how you do it?”

Lapis chuckled. “No no, you’ve got it all wrong. You see, it’s more of a this kind of thing.” Lapis flew up and got into a laying down position. “And then, you stay like this, shut your eyes, and don’t say anything.”

Aquamarine quickly put her hands on her face and turned around, despite no one else being around to see her. Topaz was off with Peridot to go see the Beta Kindergarten, as she was interested in it.

“Of course. That’s how I see it in Camp Pining Hearts when someone tries to sleep but couldn’t. I wanted to try that for myself.”

Lapis landed back on the ground. She cleared her throat.

“So, you say you want to know more about plant life on Earth?”

Aquamarine looked back at Lapis and removed her hands. “Oh, yeah. Are you available for today?”

Lapis nodded and walked out. “Come. If you want.”

Aquamarine followed suit. 

The crops weren’t doing too good, from the looks of it. Some had died, while others grew rotten and dried up. Some of the pumpkins had a mushy part to them, while some of the corn had wilted and were now sunbaked.

Aquamarine stared at the scene while Lapis clicked her tongue at the scene. “Huh. Guess I was too lenient with this.”

Aquamarine was a bit shocked at how casual Lapis sounded with this. From what Peridot told her, this was a big deal with the both of them. She didn’t except the other Gem to treat this like some minor inconvenience.

The two summoned their water wings. Aquamarine looked out at the field, while Lapis used her hydrokinesis to gather some water.

The field of crops really did look good, despite presence of some dead plants. It was lines of green, yellow, and orange making the plot look like some kind of flag. 

As Lapis was finishing up acquiring her water, it forming as a large sphere above their heads, Lapis pointed to the patches of dead plants.

“I need you to remove those from the ground. They look ugly and frankly, give off a bad smell.”

“Sure.” On command, Aquamarine first flew to the pumpkins.

True to what Lapis had said about them, they did stink quite a bit. Aquamarine retched when she got near them, almost backing off. The skin of the rotting ones weren’t any better, as they were indeed mushy and gray.

Aquamarine took them out as quickly as possible. When all of the bad ones were out, she signaled to Lapis and asked her what to do next.

“Do the corn patch next. And then the beans and peas. Don’t forget the weeds as well, they’re green and stick out of the ground.”

Aquamarine groaned and went on with her work. 

Half an hour of picking and uprooting later, Aquamarine went back to the other Gem, hands dirty and dirt on her face. She stuck her hand in the blob of water and washed her face.

“How can you do this? This is one-off the most disgusting things I have experienced on Earth.”

“You get used to it. It’s really not that bad, it’s actually quite enjoyable.”

“As expected.” 

“You got everything bad out of the system? All the corn, pumpkins, beans, peas, weeds... etc.”

“Yes, yes, everything you told me I did.”

“Good. Now we can move on.” The water bubble floated towards the field and began to spray water over the crops, like a sprinkler. Some of it was directed at buckets near the entrance of the barn.

“While I’m watering the plants with this, you’ll take those buckets and water them as well.”

“What if they’re dirty?” Aquamarine mumbled.

Lapis shot water at the aforementioned objects. “There.”

Once again, Aquamarine was out in the fields, watering the plants while Lapis watched, gently sprinkling water from above. More than once Aquamarine argues with her, but it always seemed to come in vain.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Watching you. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Use that giant sphere of water to make this whole ordeal go faster, you dullard! This is just an excuse to be lazy!”

“I mean, am I not your superior of sorts? And this thing is just for you to learn, isn’t it?” 

Aquamarine growled and continued working. Lapis would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy bossing around Aquamarine.

With barely any help from the glob of water Lapis insisted on keeping, Aquamarine was done with farm work in an hour. 

When she came back to Lapis, the latter looked at her with a grin and snapped her fingers. Shortly after, the water bubble popped, spraying water and drenching the two. 

Aquamarine stared, dumbfounded at the spectacle before her. It was later replaced with a wave of anger as the reality dawned on her.

“You didn’t pop that thing... to insult me, didn’t you?!”

Lapis held back a snicker. “Nope. Something else.”

“Humiliation? Cruelty? Embarrassment? WHAT IS IT?” 

“I wanted you to learn for yourself.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean by that?” 

“You said you wanted to know more about the plants here on Earth, right?” Despite Aquamarine opening her mouth to answer, Lapis didn’t wait for a response. “The best way would’ve been for you to experience them for yourself.”

“I... guess that makes sense.” 

“But still, it was enjoyable to see you work so hard,” Lapis said with the snicker she tried so hard to repress.

“OH COME ON! ALWAYS BEEN THE SAME GEM SINCE I’VE COME HERE, LAPIS LAZULI!”

But deep down, Aquamarine knew it was nothing more than an elaborate joke. 

To be honest, she was starting to like her.


	7. Equality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aquamarine learns what it means to be equal.

Equality.

Such a thing had never been present in Aquamarine’s entire existence. It was reasonable, she was blessed with being one of the highest tier Gems and had complete control over anyone who was assigned to her. She had never experienced anything like being below someone else. Such was the blessing and curse of Homeworld. Topaz had a similar experience, but to a lesser extent. 

Only after the two got themselves stuck on Earth could they see what it meant to be equal. It was a slippery slope at first, but they got the hang of it soon enough.

Topaz wasn’t bothered much by the sudden change in status. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it. Aquamarine, on the other hand, hated it, like how she felt towards everything in Earth back then. It took a while for Aquamarine to stop treating everyone like they were below her. 

Even then, those problems didn’t completely disappear. When a belief is present in your life for thousands of years, there is no dropping it. It is ingrained into your mind, there to stay for your life.

Such was the problem one day with Aquamarine. 

One day, she and Peridot were chatting about typical things. Mostly about CPH, but other Earth things, such as farming and what they would be doing tomorrow. 

The conversation turned to Homeworld, somehow. Peridot was curious on how Aquamarine was treated and what she was seen as. If this conversation was with Lapis, Aquamarine would’ve shot it down without hesitation. She wouldn’t, and probably couldn’t, do that with Peridot, for more than obvious reasons. 

“The usual. Being respected, having a ton of stuff handed to you, getting to participate in actual missions... etc.” Aquamarine had a look of longing on her face for a moment, then turned back in an instant.

“Anyways, you get the deal.” 

Peridot nodded. “I see. However, I noticed a slight inconsistency in your speech.

You say that only high-rank Gems can obtain ships and other equipment. But I had the honor of boarding a ship, and that was given to a Jasper, nonetheless.”

“ _That_ Jasper? You don’t mean...”

“Yes, that Jasper. Served in the Rebellion. Don’t think she’s done much other than that though.”

Aquamarine sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face. “But- she’s a Quartz! She may be bigger and stronger than the rest of them, but that’s it!”

“I know, I know. Anyways, back to the point...”

“Right, right. Anyways, yes, us high-rank Gems were spoiled to some degree. You, as a Peridot didn’t have the luxury of having anything beyond archaic Gem tech, right?”

“If you count my Limb Enhancers as ‘archaic’, Peridot said, voice heavy with sarcasm, “then yes.”

“Well, those things aren’t exactly archaic, per say.” Aquamarine was looking away from Peridot at that point, scratching her head. “They just, you know, are literally just there to improve your flimsy little body.”

“Flimsy body? Now wait a second! I may be small and not very strong, but us Peridots are very durable. Unlike you, who easily poof under certain circumstances.”

“You’re Era 2. You’d be lucky to survive being attacked by even the weakest of things, like a human! Or an Earth creature!”

Peridot had a look of incredulity on her face, as if Aquamarine had just offended her. “Who are you to make a statement like that? You’ve never even done anything like what I’ve been through!”

“What are you even trying to say?! No matter what you’ve been through, YOU ARE STILL A PERIDOT!”

Silence followed after Aquamarine’s outburst. The reality dawned on Aquamarine quickly, and she put her hands on her mouth. But it was too late. Everything was out now, and there was no taking it back.

The two looked at each other, both dumbstruck by what Aquamarine had said. The area was deathly quiet; there wasn’t so much as a bug scampering around or the voices of Topaz or Lapis present. 

Peridot got up and, with a face of both disappointment and sadness, went to the back of the barn. 

“W-Wait! I take everything back! I’m honest, I’m terribly sorry for calling you that!”

It fell on deaf ears.

“And that’s how I’ve got into this mess. Honestly, it just seems like I’m the target for most of these problems.”

Aquamarine was on a chair with Lapis listening to her problems, complete with a pencil and notebook.

“And why did you come to me? You seriously couldn’t have gone to someone else, like Steven or Topaz?”

Aquamarine shrugged. “I just thought you’d be the best one to talk with. I’m still not on completely good terms with Steven, and I’m not sure Topaz could understand what kind of problem I’m going through.“

“So what exactly did you say to Peridot? There aren’t many things that offend her.”

“Well... um, it’s a bit embarrassing, to say the least...”

Lapis sighed. “Just say it.”

“I accidentally made fun of her status as a Peridot!”

“What? Oh, yeah. That thing.”

Aquamarine appeared confused by how nonchalant Lapis acted about Homeworld status. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘that thing’?“

“What I mean about that is why are you still stuck-up about that? It’s in the past, forget about it.”

“You can’t just _forget_ it! Do you know what it’s even like to have a belief drilled into your mind? Yes, you can just ‘forget about it’, but that requires lots, lots of time! It’s not something you can do overnight!”

“Sheesh, I get it. Since I never was very fond of Homeworld in the first place, I never had that ideal put into my head.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

Lapis threw away the pencil and notebook and crossed her hands. “Well then, may I be so kind as to give you some advice?”

“I’d be grateful.”

“Just talk to her. Say your sorry and make up. This whole story you gave me sounds like some drama fanfic Peridot would work on.”

“It’s not that easy, you see. How will I know if Peridot would actually talk to me? Although she didn’t show it, I’m pretty sure she’s at least angry at me.”

“Just try. It can’t be that bad, even I’ve done worse things to her and she still talks to me.”

Aquamarine sat down and immersed herself in her thoughts. Yes, that was the logical thing to do. Just stroll right up to her and apologize, short and sweet. 

But something inside Aquamarine told her not to do it. No, it outright refused to do it. There was a feeling of uncertainty for a moment, and it vanished.

She turned back to Lapis. “I get what you’re saying, I really do. But for some reason, I can’t find myself going through with this. I can’t find the words for it, but it feels wrong.”

“Since when did you become so smart?” Lapis muttered. 

“Enough of that. What’s more important is that you help me reconcile with Peridot.” 

“Why me? I have nothing in this.” 

Aquamarine flew up to Lapis’ face, inches away from actually touching it. She did her best puppy eyes imitation, and Lapis admitted that it was quite good. “ _Peridot must be teaching her how to do that_ ,” she thought.

“Pleeease? I promise I won’t do anything bad to you!”

Lapis chuckled. “Alright, I’ll help you with this,” the Gem said as she pushed Aquamarine away from her, “Just don’t get so close to me, ok?”

Another thought hit Lapis as Aquamarine nodded. “Say, why don’t we get Topaz? She could help you. You say she wouldn’t understand you, but what makes you think that?”

“She’s always fused, that’s what! Tell me, have you ever seen her unfuse and break up on bad terms?”

“No,” Lapis admitted. “But I’m confident that she would understand. It’s not if she’s already sappy as heck and loves a good drama.”

With a reluctant Aquamarine accompanying her, Lapis went to look for Topaz. It was difficult at first, as she somehow managed to hide herself in the scenery. It wasn’t until Aquamarine pointed out a large shape besides the boxes that they found Topaz.

Lapis waved at the bulky Gem, and the latter waved back. “Yo, Topaz, I need to ask you a question.”

She smiled. “Ask away.”

“Aquamarine needs your help. Could you be so kind as to accompany her to Peridot?”

What was once a relaxed expression on Topaz’s face turned to confusion. She set the book she was reading down and turned to face Lapis directly.

“Excuse me? Did I hear that wrong, or does Aquamarine actually needs help? _My_ help out of all people.”

“Listen here you little b-“ Aquamarine was quickly shut down by Lapis. 

“Look, I know it’s weird, but trust me on this. Aquamarine messed up badly with Peridot and for some reason needs us to reconcile with her. Strange, I know, but this is what she says.”

“I don’t know... sounds abnormal for her, of all people to be asking us with help.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that a lot. Are you gonna help us or not?”

“I would, but...” Topaz’s eyes shifted towards Aquamarine. “...the problem resides within her.”

Lapis too turned to look at the smaller Gem, who now had an embarrassed look. “You didn’t make up with her, didn’t you?”

“Now that you mention it, I never did talk to her.”

“Case in point. How can I work with someone that has treated me like human garbage?” With that statement in mind, Topaz went back to reading.

Lapis shot Aquamarine a look that said it all. No words were needed; it was clear what she needed to do.

Aquamarine went to Topaz and perched on her shoulder. She didn’t seem to notice, or even then, didn’t want to look at her former superior. Aquamarine couldn’t blame her.

Aquamarine cleared her throat. When that didn’t get her attention, she resorted to tugging on her shoulder.

Topaz turned around. Aquamarine braced herself, hoping for the best.

“Look, I’m truly sorry for treating you like junk. Now that I look back on it, Homeworld was extremely strict in its procedures and if we didn’t do our jobs, we would be shattered. I’m sorry for all of the demeaning comments I made on your permafusion status, I’m sorry for everything. If you can forgive me, than that’s great. If you can’t, then I don’t blame you.”

Topaz stared at her, surprised at what Aquamarine had just said. For someone as haughty and snarky as the Gem beside her, this was a sign that she had changed for the best.

To Aquamarine and Lapis’ relief, Topaz smiled and let out a chuckle. “I forgive you. And I can see that you’ve changed for good now. I mean, the old Aquamarine definitely wouldn’t have gone on that kind of speech. For a friend, at that.”

The three shared a laugh at that.

After Topaz agreed to help Aquamarine, the trio waited for Peridot to come back from the beach house. She left in the early afternoon to do something with Steven, or, as Lapis speculated, to get away from the cyan Gem, much to Aquamarine’s chagrin.

At last, Peridot came back to the barn. Before going to the green Gem, the other two gave her reassuring grins and thumbs up. 

Aquamarine made her way to Peridot, who was watching an episode of Camp Pining Hearts. Either she didn’t know Aquamarine was there or she pretended to not notice. Probably the latter.

Aquamarine sat down next to Peridot, who still didn’t acknowledge her. Aquamarine watched the episode in silence, not knowing got to start the conversation.

After a few excruciatingly long minutes, Aquamarine decided to start the conversation.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” Peridot replied, still keeping her eyes focused on the TV. It was clear that she wasn’t in the mood to initiate in a conversation. But as Peridot knew by now, Aquamarine was one stubborn Gem, and wouldn’t stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

“About earlier today...”

“Yeah, I know. What do you want about it?”

“All I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry. I don’t want this to go on longer than necessary.”

Peridot actually looked at Aquamarine. The two Gems in the background gave a thumbs up to the little Gem, although she didn’t see it. 

Peridot smiled, albeit as it seemed that it looked a bit forced. “I’m glad that you think so, Aquamarine. Honestly, are you even the sa-“

“Same Gem before I was forced that love here with you? Yes, I am.” Aquamarine spat out. While she knew better than to go off like that, no one could blame her. After all, being told that more than a couple of times would inevitably get on your nerves.

Thankfully, Peridot didn’t seem to be annoyed at Aquamarine’s little surge of anger, but instead relived by it. She ruffled Aquamarine’s hair, which even then, she did not appreciate. Lapis and Topaz had to suppress a snicker at the sight.

“I’m just glad that you’re still there. I’ll be honest, it would unnerving for you to suddenly turn into a complete nice guy like Steven overnight.”

It was Aquamarine’s turn to laugh at that remark. “True. You know, I was so worried that you would be a Gem copy of Steven, right down to the personality and height. I’m so glad that I was wrong.”

Another laugh, this time from Peridot. 

As Lapis and Topaz watched from the back, they too couldn’t help but smile at the sight. It was the most peaceful Aquamarine had been, and even though it embarrassed Lapis to say this, she was genuinely cute when she wasn’t being a sarcastic jerk or a condescending snob. It was fresh breath of air.

The laughing died down and the two small Gems were staring at each other with no real reason behind it. At this point, Aquamarine didn’t care if Lapis saw her and would never live it down. This was all she wanted in that moment of calm.

While Lapis watched on, she noticed a growing feeling in her gut. What was it? Anger? Resentment? Jealousy? 

No, it wasn’t any of those. Sure she did feel a little jealous that Aquamarine managed to bond with Peridot faster than she could in the span of a month, but she felt strangely proud of her.

She tapped on Topaz’s shoulder and got up. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Why?” 

“I think that’s enough spying on Aquamarine, don’t you think?”

The look of confusion on Topaz’s face quickly disappeared as she was starting to understand what Lapis was trying to say. “All right.”

She took one last look at the Peridot and Aquamarine, and then went back to her own activities.

Later, during the night, Aquamarine was wide awake. She couldn’t fall asleep. Not that she was used to sleeping, even after nearly a month after staying in the barn and learning from Peridot. 

She was laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. She remained like that for who knows who long before a crash could be heard.

Aquamarine jumped up immediately. When she looked around and saw nothing threatening, she sighed out of relief and went back to her usual position.

Until it happened again.

This time, Aquamarine got up and stayed up, scanning the area more carefully than last time. Once again, she couldn’t find the source of the noise. It was there and now that she realized that it was coming from the attic, confirmed when she put her head on the wood and the clatter of objects made her recoil.

She facepalmed and went up there. Upon arriving, she saw a mess of everything she had seen in the barn beforehand and Peridot in the middle holding a hammer and screwdrivers.

“Peridot?!” Aquamarine flew over to the Gem. Her response sounded more needy and desperate than she wanted it, but that was the least of her worries at that moment. 

To her relief, Peridot wasn’t harmed or hurt in anyway. It looked like she was just shook up. She was down on the ground, the same way Aquamarine laid down. 

Peridot batted an eye towards the tiny Gem, a smile forming on her lips. “Hey, Aquamarine.”

“Are you ok? What happened? What was that big crash I heard? Did something break?”

“Calm down, I’ll answer all of your questions.” She got up from her position, beckoning Aquamarine to move away from her. Peridot took off her visor, rubbed her eyes, and proceeded to do the same thing with her forehead. 

“Now, ask your questions, but slowly. Use the technique I taught you. It’ll help you calm down.”

“Right.” Aquamarine started taking deep breaths, and to her surprise, it did make her fell more at ease. Peridot smiled at her, like how a kindergarten teacher would smile at a child learning a new math equation.

“First, are you ok? Second, what happened and what was that crash?”

“First of all, I am ok. Nothing to worry about, just a few bumps and bruises. Second of all, I happened to fall down while working on my new meep-morp,” Peridot replied, pointing a finger towards a skeletal frame with one or two accessories on it.

“You were working on that? In the night?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep and decided to start on this thing right now. As you can see, it’s not doing so well at the moment.”

“I could help. Tomorrow, I mean.”

A wide smile formed upon Peridot’s face as she pulled Aquamarine into a tight hug. 

“I would be delighted to have you! I’ve noticed you have a knack for creating meep-morps, so this’ll be a great lesson for you!”

“Right. Could you please let me go?”

“Sure.” Peridot loosened her hug, letting the small Gem free. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow up here? Ok?”

“Got it. Get some sleep while you’re at it.”

Aquamarine nodded and went back to the lower level. There, she tried out a new sleeping position, one that Steven used; focusing on one side.

As she closed her eyes, the thought of joining Peridot on her creations brought a smile to her face. She was starting to enjoy Peridot’s antics more and more. 

An image of the finished creation flashed through Aquamarine’s mind before all went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at writing drama lol


	8. Crystal Temps, Except It’s Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Temps take it upon themselves to help around Beach City, now with two additional members.

Aquamarine was never the adventurous kind. 

She preferred to stay in her ship while the lower-tier Gems who were assigned to her did most of the work. Even when Aquamarine’s involvement was needed, she did it as quickly as possible, even resorting to dirty tactics if necessary. 

Maybe that’s why she applied to the mission to Earth. It was easy, wouldn’t take more than a few days to complete, and would earn her lots of praise and attention from Blue Diamond herself. 

So, when Peridot tried to convince her to join her, Lapis, and Topaz for a meeting with Connie, she wasn’t too pleased. Especially when she heard that Pumpkin was getting involved.

“Do I _have_ to do this? I don’t even know who this Connie is!”

“Steven didn’t tell you who Connie was?” Aquamarine responded with a shake of her head. 

“Huh. I thought, you know, after Topaz kidnapped her, you would know more about her...” Peridot said as her voice trailed off, realizing how stupid her explanation sounded. 

“What makes you think that? Jut because I’ve seen her doesn’t mean I’ll know anything about her.”

“Let’s get back to the point. Connie is Steven’s human friend who Topaz kidnapped when you were still on your mission.”

“That... answers some of my questions. But why are you interested in her? Do you have some kind of platonic relationship with her? Friends, maybe?”

“You hit the nail on the spot. I could go into depth about it if y-“

“ _Stop_.” Aquamarine had her hands up and began to scoot back. “I do _not_ want to hear more of your pointless drivel, especially if it develops into a spiel of useless information that I will never use.”

There was silence after that, and Aquamarine was starting to regret opening her mouth in the first place. Peridot stared at her, eyes wide. 

“Well, that’s one way to say that you don’t want to hear what I’m saying.”

“Please don’t take that seriously it’s that you talk too much and it gets boring after a while-“

Peridot laughed at that. “Okay, I get what you’re trying to say. Heck, even I feel the same way about myself sometimes.”

Aquamarine sighed out of relief. “Good. Don’t want another ‘argument based on miscommunication’ like what happened last time.”

Peridot began to say something, but Aquamarine was faster. “Oh, and about Connie, sure I’ll go. Just tell me more about her, make sure of that.”

“-And after Steven got back from Homeworld, me, Lapis, and Connie took up working at the car wash Steven’s biological father works at. Though you can say it didn’t work out too well.”

“Wow. That was certainly not something I was expecting from you.”

“See? I told you, you liked it!”

“Did you have to explain every single detail thoroughly though? And when I mean thoroughly, I mean did it have to _take up most of the walk to this place_?”

The four Gems, were all in the house’s bathroom, with Pumpkin in the trash can. 

“How else would you know everything? There’s so much to know that I had to tell you everything!”

“She’s got a point though. You talk too much, like way too much. Does your mouth ever get tired?” Lapis’ remark was key with a nod from Topaz.

“That’s none of your business, Lapis Lazuli,” Peridot growled, earning Lapis a smirk. 

After some silence, Topaz spoke up. “Why are we even in here anyways? Why can’t we wait in the main room, with that big sofa or whatever Steven called it?”

“Great question, Topaz. The reason we’re in here is that I wanted to show you and Aquamarine my room.”

“So, where is it?” Topaz scanned the room, looking for any hint of a room similar to Peridot’s back in the barn. 

“One would not expect to see any kind of room in this area called a bathroom, bu-“

Soon after there was the sound of Connie calling out for them. The four Gems looked at each other, then all eyes were on Peridot. 

Peridot got the cue. “Fine, I’ll do it. We don’t want the same thing happening today.”

Just as Peridot was about to get out of the sink, Connie entered the room, sword on her back.

Peridot clicked her tongue. “At least knock before coming in. Second time, Maheswaran.”

Connie rolled her eyes and ignored the Gem’s remark. She decided to get to the point. “So, why are you in the bathroom again? And what are those two doing here?”

“Let’s take this to the living room. I’ll explain there.”

“So if I’m getting what you’re saying, Steven freed these two and he let them live at the barn?”

Peridot nodded.

“And you’re ok with this?” 

“That’s right.”

Everyone was in the living room at this point, with Pumpkin on Connie’s lap, courtesy of Peridot.

“In any case, I guess I should introduce myself.” Connie got up and went over to Topaz, reaching out for the latter’s hand.

“I’m Connie. I presume you recognize me?”

Topaz studied her, then gave a shake of her head. “Sorry, who are you again?”

“You tried to kidnap me and take me to space.”

“I tried to take a lot of people that day.”

Connie turned to Aquamarine. “How about you? Taking into consideration that you were in charge.”

“Don’t look at me. Look at her!” That caused the girl to facepalm while the other two tried not to laugh. 

Ignoring the fiasco, Connie took out a piece of lapsed and set it on the table. “Anyways, yesterday Steven came to my house and handed over this piece of paper. He told me to meet you all here.”

Peridot was the first to react and grabbed the paper. Looking over it, she began to read off of it.

“It says here to ‘help with the car wash’, with an added bonus of ‘fixing the wall’, whatever that means, ‘help out the mayor’, and ‘help Mr. Smiley with Funland’.” Peridot returned the paper with a remark, “Apparently Beach City needs a lot of helping out with.”

After handing it back to Connie, the green Gem’s eyes darted around the area. “Where is Steven anyways? The Gems too.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Steven said that he and the Gems were going to be out on a mission all day to capture a corrupted Gem. That’s where we come in.”

“Oh yeah. So, in that case...” Peridot suddenly jumped onto the table and posed, causing Aquamarine to flinch. “...the Crystal Temps shall reform!” 

Aquamarine stared at her, confused at what ‘Crystal Temps’ meant. “‘Crystal Temps?’ What is that, some kind of inferior group to Rose’s lackeys?”

“Well, yes, in a sort of way. Me, Connie, Lapis, and Pumpkin firmed this very group to defend Beach City while Steven was out to save his biological father.”

“It wasn’t so much as ‘defending’ this place, more like helping out at the car wash and doing a whole lot of nothing,” Lapis chimed in. “And, as usual, something went wrong.” 

“That last part doesn’t count because we fixed it and Steven’s biological father thanked us for it! Does it count if all went well in the end, hmm, Lapis Lazuli?”

“It still counts as a failure, though I do know that you’re a sore loser when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

Peridot growled and looked away, a sign that she knew she lost. Lapis smirked. 

“Mind explaining what a car wash even is?” That came from Aquamarine.

“It’s a- actually, based on how oblivious she is to who I am,” Connie stated while pointing towards Topaz. “Wait, I never got your name.”

“It’s Topaz.”

“I’m Connie. Nice to meet you.”

Topaz chuckled while she took Connie’s hand. “No need to say your name twice, it is my fault for not introducing myself to you properly.”

Connie shared a laugh at that. “No need for you to apologize either.”

Afterward, Connie pointed towards the door, posing all the while. “Now, Crystal Temps, let’s get on with it!”

Everyone stared at the girl, incredulity clear in their eyes. “I don’t think the Crystal Temps should be a thing. Considering last time.”

Within the span of a few minutes, the group was at the car wash. The costumes they had on last time were ditched, with a four-to-one vote. Connie kept her sword, despite Peridot claiming that it would be useless and a burden to drag around.

Pumpkin came too, despite a certain Gem’s disapproval. “And yet you still keep the plant. I wonder what goes around your mind when you make decisions, Peridot.” 

“Pumpkin is a full-fledged member of our group, Aquamarine. She has been there for all of us, something you should’ve picked up on once you got familiar with us.”

“Stupid thing, taking up precious space in the barn,” Aquamarine muttered. 

The five stayed in their positions, looking around for any signs of people coming for the car wash. Much to Aquamarine’s boredom and Connie’s slight disappointment, nothing happened for around five minutes.

“This is our job? Sitting around while nothing happens?” Aquamarine turned to Connie. “Your so-called ‘adventure’ is severely lacking, human.”

“This is probably different from what’s normal on Homeworld, but you have to understand that cars don’t come here in an instant, Aquamarine. It takes time, ten minutes, half an hour, even while hours. Unfortunately, we’re going to have wait.”

Aquamarine made a guttural noise. “HOURS?! No thank you! If I have to wait that long just to get results than I’d rather get out of here!” Peridot signaled to keep quiet, but either Aquamarine didn’t get it or she didn’t care.

With that outburst, Greg, who was wiping off sweat from his forehead, noticed the group's presence. 

He waved at them and set down the hose. “Hey gang! Watch a doing over there?”

Connie was the first to respond. She ran over to him, with the others following suit shortly after. “Mr. Universe! How are you?“

“I’m doing fine myself. How are the rest of you...” His voice dragged on as soon as he spotted Topaz and Aquamarine. 

“Oh, right. Almost forget what happened between you and them. But no worries, because they’re on our side now. Isn’t that right?”

The yellow Gem nodded while the other shrugged and replied “Not yet.” Greg wiped off another row of sweat and relaxed.

“Thank goodness. Now, what brings you here, Connie?”

“Steven left me a note before he went with the Gems. The first thing he listed was to help you with the wash.” She took out the note and passed it to Greg.

The man examined it. He laughed before handing it back to Connie. “Honestly, you didn’t have to come here. I’m perfectly fine as I am, and bringing Lapis and Peridot back here might... let’s say it might not work out.”

“Mr. Universe, I feel obligated to help you. I know Steven well enough to know that he would be extremely grateful if I help you out.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” Greg went inside the wash and returned with several more buckets and soap. “Then I guess it would only be right to let you help.”

As if on cue, a car horn blared, disturbing the peace between the six. 

Aquamarine didn’t take that well. “STUPID HUMAN! Be quiet, we’ll get to you later!”

Lapis responded with smacking Aquamarine. “Keep your voice down! There are people out here!” Lapis quietly said in a slightly threatening tone.

The group, plus Greg, made their way over to the vehicle. It was Buck once again, a more trashed van next to him.

Greg greeted him. “Buck! How are you doing?”

“Yo. Fine, I guess. I need a wash on my old man’s van. Some protesters were having a little too much fun and messed it up,” Buck said while pointing to the head. From last time, it was noticeably worse, as it was basically adorned with garbage.

Greg winced at the sight. He cracked his knuckles, grabbed a hose, and handed a sponge to Connie. He cleared his throat before speaking.

“I’m assuming you know how to clean a car, right?”

“No, but that’s only because-“

“In that case, let me show how to. First-“

“Amateurs. Let me shout you how a car is washed.” Peridot’s voice cut in. She stepped in the front and held out her hands. Within seconds the van started to float.

Greg stood there, dumbfounded by the Gem’s strength. Steven had told him this, but he never said it could get this strong, as the last time Greg saw Peridot use her ferrokinesis it was to lift her tablet.

“Peridot, this is amazing! You never said you could do this!”

Peridot chuckled. “I do a lot of amazing things in my spare time,” with that statement came an eye roll from Lapis. She too went to the front and motioned for everyone to back off.

Within moments, water came flying out of the hoses, covering the vehicle in a sphere of water. Seconds later, the sphere of water exploded and Peridot let the van drop to the ground.

Greg’s jaw may as well have been on the floor. He ran over to the vehicle, inspecting it for any kind of damage.

After taking a moment to scrutinize it, the man turned to look at the two Gems. The look of surprise wasn’t as exaggerated as before, but it was still there. “There’s nothing on here! Not a stain or a bump!”

Buck pulled out fifty dollars from a wallet and handed it to Greg. “Yo, those women really are awesome. They’re super cool, not gonna lie.”

Greg was about to say something, most likely about the money, but Buck was long gone before he could get a single word out.

“That was fast. Faster than I expected, anyway,” said Aquamarine, who was equally as shocked as Greg, though she didn’t let it show. “Who knew you could do... *that*?”

“A hidden talent, I suppose. Although that is what happens with the great and lovable Peridot, am I right?”

Aquamarine groaned and jammed her hands into her non-existent ears. As enjoyable Peridot was, the times she got like this were when she was at her worst; cocky and insufferable. 

“You get too cocky, you know that? And I’ve just remembered, you could’ve used this while we were at the Kindergarten!” 

She began tugging at Peridot’s eyelids, a clear sign she was angry. While it was cute at first, it quickly became annoying. 

“Ouch! Get off of me, you clod!” Peridot said as she tried to swat the small Gem, to no avail.

“Oh, so now I’m the clod? I think you’re the dunce here, you dullard!”

As the two continued to fight, the four watched, with Lapis embarrassed by the event and Topaz to a lesser extent. Greg and Connie, on the other hand, watched in amusement.

“And to think that this was the same Gem to kidnap me.”

“Yeah. From what I’ve heard, the same thing happened to Peridot once she lost her Limb Enhancers.”

Having enough of Aquamarine’s childish bouts of rage and Peridot’s tendency to follow, Lapis encased them within bubbles. 

Aquamarine seemed to be somewhat confused at first, but it was replaced with the same anger as before and began trying to break out of her watery prison.

“It’s no use. You can’t even reach the sides, how are you expecting to break out of there?”

Whatever came out of her mouth was muffled, although the way her mouth was rapidly moving and changing indicated that it was nothing short of pleasant. 

She stood there for a few more minutes, waiting for the tiny Gem to chill out. When she didn’t, Lapis sighed and turned to Connie.

“Great, now what will I do with her? She’s still screaming and trying to get out; she’ll be lucky if she doesn’t lose her voice by the end of this.”

Connie decided to try her own kind of sarcasm. She put a finger on her chin and made herself look deep in thought. “Let me see here... what I think you should do...” Connie strolled over to the bubbles and pulled out her sword, readying herself for a strike. Lapis only responded with raising an eyebrow.

“...would be the most obvious thing to do.” Connie struck at the two spheres, releasing Aquamarine and Peridot. Surprisingly, the two weren’t belligerent or tried to go after Lapis. They just appeared dizzy.

“Ugh... what’s this feeling? I feel like I’m at the bottom of one of those Earth lakes.” Aquamarine turned to Peridot, expecting an answer. 

“Don’t ask me. This is completely new to me as well.”

As the two recovered, Lapis tapped Connie’s shoulder. Using her hydrokinesis, she fished the note from the girl’s pocket. “So, are we gonna get these done or watch these two for the day?”

“Lapis, you’re going to get it wet!” Connie hissed. Lapis pointed at the hand that was holding it, which was strangely clawed and still. 

“Chill. It won’t get wet. See?” 

A brief look of humiliation crossed her face before apologizing. 

Connie turned to Funland. “Well, I say we should get going now.” As she ran towards the location, Lapis called out to the two Gems, who were still on the ground. 

“Are you two coming or no?” No response. “It’s a no then. Topaz, let’s get moving.”

That got Aquamarine up. She grabbed onto Peridot’s arm and flew towards the blue Gem. 

“We’re here, we’re here! Gosh, you’re so impatient.”

Lapis smirked. “Glad to see that still works. The old Lapis Lazuli charm.”

“And, as usual, your ability to name things is still terrible.”

“Whatever you say. Are you and her feeling any better?”

Aquamarine put a hand to her head. “Some strange vibrations here and there, but it’s not too bad. Peridot’s the same.”

Lapis let loose a snicker. “‘Strange vibrations’? Those are called headaches. I see you’ve taken after Peridot in that regard.”

As the rest of the day went by, it seemed like it was meshed into one big memory. The sweltering heat may have helped.

After the incident, nearly nothing noteworthy happened after. The only thing that was interesting enough were Onion’s attempts to burn down various food stalls and even a roller coaster. 

The hole in the car wash was fixed, albeit it wasn’t as good as the group wished. Wood planks were put up to solve the hole issue, but that created the problem that it looked out of place. Greg finally caved in and claimed that he would hire a professional to repair it.

‘Helping our the mayor’ turned out to be spreading posters of him around town, with an additional litter problem being put on their lists a few minutes after. The litter problem was solved in a few minutes, courtesy of Lapis. Aside from a few complaints from Aquamarine that the operation would’ve been quickly if she had her wand, everyone was silent. 

Connie and the Gems parted ways and said their goodbyes. The latter commented on Aquamarine’s leadership skills.

“I had no idea how good of a boss you were, Aquamarine. If you decided to team up with the Crystal Gems, you would be a valuable member,” Connie mused.

Aquamarine grinned. 

“Heh. Don’t sweat it.” 

As the five were traveling in the warp stream, Aquamarine asked Peridot if she said the correct sentence. Peridot nodded.

When they reached the barn, the two collapsed, exhausted from all the work they had done.

“Who knew working for the star-forsaken location would be so tiring?”

“Indeed. I can’t feel anything. But it was fun, right?”

“Eh. Not really. It was boring, other than that human child trying to burn down that place called Funland.“

“But it was relieving to do something else right?”

Aquamarine grunted in response. But regardless, there was something both of them could agree on.

Never trust Onion.


	9. Flower Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beauty of flowers.

“I’m not doing this.”

“Come on, it’ll be great! You like farming, I’ll guarantee that this’ll be fun for you.”

“Peridot, I am _not_ planting flower seeds.”

They were outside, next to the patch of crops. Peridot was holding a packet of seeds and a shovel, while Aquamarine held a watering can with both arms, with a towel next to her. Despite there being no one to witness it, Aquamarine nearly ditched the item before Peridot stopped her.

“Aquamarine, if this is about someone seeing us, then there’s nothing to worry about. Heck, I chose the exact time and place just for you.”

“Arguing with you is pointless, so whatever you say. Though I will state that if anyone sees us, I’m going to shatter you.”

At this point, Aquamarine’s attempts at threats were little more than angry half-hearted rants. As such, Peridot shook it off.

“Alright. First, pick up that trowel.” Aquamarine obliged and picked it up. She stood there, holding the object up and looking at the larger Gem, awaiting her response.

“Ok. Now what?” 

Peridot resisted the temptation to facepalm and instead placed shoveled the dirt with her own shovel. 

“Do that. Do you get it now?”

Aquamarine grunted and picked up the trowel. She managed to shovel a patch of dirt, albeit with some difficulty and with it naturally being hard to use, with Aquamarine’s size and all.

“Good. Now, the next step is to take one of these,” Peridot said while taking out a seed, “and to place it into the hole you just made.”

“Ok. That’s simple enough.” 

“If you think so, then I’ll watch from here and watch you.” Peridot stepped back and took out a pair of binoculars from her gemstone. 

Aquamarine continued on as if the latter didn’t say anything. Making holes and handling the watering can were the biggest challenges. 

After ten minutes of this, Aquamarine dropped the trowel and the watering can. She turned to look at the Gem, who was still staring in the binoculars. 

“Done. How did I do?” Aquamarine was now on Peridot’s shoulders.

Peridot put the item back and examined Aquamarine’s handiwork. To her surprise, it was neat, showing no signs of sloppiness. All the mounds were watered, something that Peridot expected her to forget about, as a few days beforehand, Aquamarine legitimately didn’t know that water was required for all life.

“You did a better job than I thought.”

Aquamarine grinned. “When you’re the great Aquamarine, anything is possible.” 

“I’ve noticed that you’ve grown to admire plant life on Earth. When you first started your life on Earth, you regarded anything that came out of the ground as dirty ‘organics’ and refused to touch said plants. But that has now changed.”

“I just didn’t like anything on this planet at first. Even then, some org- I mean animals still creep me out, like that thing called a lion Steven has.”

The first time Aquamarine had an experience with an animal, excluding Pumpkin, was with Lion, who swatted her like a fly and pinned her on the ground. Peridot repressed a laugh at Aquamarine bringing it up again.

“I had the same thing happen to me when I was first stranded here. Ended up locking myself in the bathroom.”

Aquamarine raised an eyebrow. For a little while, there was silence, and then both of them broke out in fits of laughter.

“Seriously?! After spending most of my time under your wing and seeing you as the only sane Gem here... there’s no words for it!” 

“I know, I know! I was so different back then, you wouldn’t believe it! Oh, that brings back good memories...”

After they stopped laughing, Aquamarine looked back at the patch of flowers. There was still one thing that she questioned. 

“So, what was the point of bringing me here? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it, but it seems quite out of place of you, or OOC, as you call it.”

“Like I said before, you’ve grown to enjoy plant life. So I thought, ‘why don’t I bring Aqua over?’”

Aquamarine giggled at the name Peridot gave here. Although it was just a shorter version of hers, it symbolized the bond between the two. 

“This was fun. See you later.” Aquamarine rose from Peridot’s shoulder and headed to the barn. 

“See you too.” Peridot picked up the tools and placed them in her gemstone. Her head was starting to feel a bit heavy, a side effect for a Gem as small as her. 

Before getting inside, she washed the dirt off her palms and returned the objects back to their previous locations.

Once again, Aquamarine couldn’t sleep. It confused her; everyone else seemed fine when it came to sleeping. Within minutes, all she heard were snores and the barks of stray dogs

She twisted and turned, hoping to find a better sleeping position. She tried everything, from sideways to face down, and no such luck.

Already bored out of her mind, Aquamarine summoned her wings and rose from the ground. She went to the other level, half-expecting Peridot to be up and working on some meep-morp. 

Of course, she was fast asleep, clutching a wrench in one hand and a pack of nails in the other. A hammer rested next to her, alongside a measuring tape, and an unfinished remote control was next to a larger object. 

Aquamarine got closer to the object. Instead of a meep-morp, it was something else entirely. It was similar in size and shape of the attack drones that were scattered around the barn, but it had a sprinkler-like nozzle instead of the long ones Peridot’s other inventions had. On its right side, there was an opening with a label that read ‘PUT LIQUIDS HERE’. 

It didn’t take long for the tiny Gem to put two and two together. 

“ _So this is what Peridot’s working on. Come to think of it, I did hear a couple of banging noises in the afternoon_.”

Normally Aquamarine would’ve walked away from such a thing, as she wasn’t a tech wizard like Peridot. But this intrigued her, for some reason. 

It wasn’t often she got to see something of Peridot’s up close. And she definitely wanted to know more about Earth technology. 

A second look at the remote revealed that it wasn’t all unfinished. Aside from it missing the top-left corner and the button not quite put in place, it seemed like it could work. 

“ _Just one test. I’ll test it out once and put it back. She won’t notice_.” 

Aquamarine got out of the barn and snatched a bucket full of water. After making it back, she poured most of it into the robot.

With a shaky hand, Aquamarine grabbed the remotes and pressed the button.

Nothing happened for a moment, and then the drone sprung up, causing Aquamarine to flinch.

“Ok. Now how do I get it out of here?” She tilted the object around, hoping to get a response from it. When that didn’t work, her other hand brushed against a stub of the back of the remote. 

Aquamarine turned it around, traveling what was an unfinished joystick looking thing. 

After staring at it in confusion, the small Gem pulled it to the right, causing the drone to move to the aforementioned direction. 

“Stars, what goes through your mind when you make these things?” Aquamarine muttered. Regardless, she led it out of the barn, with her flying close by. 

Aquamarine was now out a roadblock of sorts. She had no idea on how to get this thing to spray out water. The big red button was for activating it and the joystick thing was for getting it to move. Despite examining it, there were no smaller buttons, levers, or switches. 

Aquamarine was about to throw the device back in the barn and try to go back to sleep when she noticed a small lens popping out of the robot. It began to circle the farmland, while Aquamarine watched with intent. 

After a while, the sprinkler-nozzle shot out water while continuing to go around. After ten minutes of this, the lens retracted and returned to Aquamarine.

After staring at it in shock, Aquamarine let out a cough. 

“Huh. Peridot’s gotten better at this. Maybe she could make a new wand for me.”

She laughed at the last part. As she led the device back to its resting spot, she to check on it again tomorrow afternoon.

The day had come, and Peridot was nowhere to be found. She was invited by Steven to help on reconstructing some old Gem tech that could help them find corrupted Gems more easily. Aquamarine would’ve joined her, if not for the watering drone. 

After Peridot left, Aquamarine made a beeline for the robot. Lapis noticed this.

“You seem more into robots than I thought.”

“Yeah, well, what can I say? Earth tech is surprisingly more complex than I thought. It’s also very different from what Homeworld has to offer.”

“Really? Or is that because it was made from Peridot?” Lapis teased. Aquamarine blushed and tried to hide it.

“Shut up! What do you have in this, anyways?! At least I’m doing something worthwhile, unlike you!” 

“Chill, I’m just teasing you. No offense to you or your interest in Peridot’s robots.” To proves she wasn’t going to pry further in, Lapis buried herself in her book.

Aquamarine’s gaze lingered on her, before turning the other way with a grunt.

As expected, the drone was still up there, now with improvements. It was no longer the shade of green Peridot’s inventions had, but it was a shade of light blue, now with two more nozzles. The old remote control was now discarded in a bag, and a new one took its place. The new remote was slightly smaller, and the same could be said for the button and joystick. Two smaller buttons were higher up, with labels that read ‘camera’ and ‘water’ respectively.

Aquamarine picked up the new and improved remote control and turned the watering machine on. Once it was up and running, she directed it outside. 

As the machine was hovering over the crops, the tiny Gem took out a bag of flower seeds and a trowel. Initially, she was rather disinterested in gardening, seeing it as only a human hobby and nothing else. Later, she found that it was refreshing and a nice change of pace from the wild life inside the barn. It helped that Aquamarine soon grew fond of flowers and kept them around, as she liked how they looked.

Aquamarine began to make holes. After around twenty minutes and two rows, Aquamarine planted the seeds, organizing them in groups of three. 

After that was done, she pointed towards the machine and pressed the left button.  
The drone pulled out the lens, and it scanned the field. There were no differences between the old and new machines.

When Aquamarine changed it to watering mode, she discovered that the way it watered was different as well, instead of spraying out the same amount of water at everything, it watered the plants with different amounts. For the flower seeds, it only released about a half of it. 

After it was done, the small Gem led it back into the barn, deactivated it, and threw the device back in. Instead of coming back in, Aquamarine landed on the truck the Gems used to watch CPH and gazed out into the landscape.

She had grown to admire Earth. It was something she didn’t know until this moment. The simplicity, the intriguing life, even the way everything was simply living and not on some kind of job, it was surprisingly relaxing. 

She also grew to despise Homeworld. Aquamarine didn’t even know that was possible. As she grew closer to the Gems, the thought of returning to Homeworld left a bad taste in her mouth. She never even realized how controlling it was, or how flawed its caste system was. In a way, Aquamarine now understood how Rose’s group felt about the planet. 

Two fingers tapped on her shoulders. Aquamarine made a guttural sound and looked behind her, slightly shocked to see Lapis besides her. 

“Hey. Watcha doing?”

“Lapis?! When did you get here?!” 

After the initial shock wore down, Aquamarine raised the more important question, “Why are you here? Let me guess, you want to taunt me?”

“No. I saw you here, staring out here like what happens in Camp Pining Hearts. You know, it’s unusual for you.”

“Ah. That makes sense.” 

The two sat there, not speaking a word. They were focused on something else; the sunset. Both of them never experienced or payed full attention on one before in person, only in CPH and pictures. 

Now they saw why they were adored. Sunsets really were beautiful. Today was a good one, as the orange and yellow blended in amazingly well. It looked like something straight out of a painting.

Aquamarine was the first to break the silence. “I think I like Earth now.”

Lapis’ eyes widened quite a bit as she looked at Aquamarine. 

“Seriously? You’re not joking?”

“One hundred percent serious. What about you?”

“Eh, I’m so-so.” 

Aquamarine looked at Lapis, with a hint of suspicion. Lapis caught on, because she held up a finger and cleared her throat.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather be here than serving my time on some boring planet. But I’ve been here for over _three thousand years_. I think I’ve overstated my welcome, if you catch my drift.”

“Does being trapped in a mirror really count? But let me guess, the real reason you’re still here is because of Steven.”

Now it was Lapis’ turn to look at Aquamarine with suspicion. “When and how did you find that out?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re the closest one to Steven. He freed you from the mirror. He’s the only one of the original Crystal Gems that you’ve talked to, and the only one who you have a positive relationship with. It’s terribly easy to put together the pieces.”

Lapis, at first, was stunned by how much of her recent life had just been laid down, and by someone who wasn’t even here for most of it. 

Despite it, she shrugged it off and chuckled. She ran her fingers through Aquamarine’s hair, to her slight embarrassment. 

“Well, I’m surprised that you know so much about me. Although I won’t deny, Steven is part of the reason I’m still here. If there ever was a reason I would have to go, I’m taking to barn, Pumpkin, and him to the moon.”

Aquamarine laughed at the sheer absurdity. “Really? If something happened here on Earth, you’d just pack up and leave?”

“I’ve flown from the top of a water spire to Homeworld. I could do it.”

Lapis’ water wings formed while she pointed to the sky. “Wanna bet? Here and now, no cheating.”

The two looked at each other for a bit, before breaking out into fits of laughter. Aquamarine wiped a tear before continuing on.

“You never told me you could be a jokester.” 

“What can I say? It’s natural.”

After a while, the two went back to their own devices, with Aquamarine to her CPH books and Lapis went flying to stars-knew. 

Before returning, she took one last look at the flower patch. 

Aquamarine knew about the expression ‘bite off more than you can chew.’ In fact, it was one of the first idioms she picked up, and one of the few she could understand. 

So why was she handling a giant handful of flowers despite very well knowing she wouldn’t be able to see in front of her?

A week had passed since then. The flowers had grown rather quickly, faster than Aquamarine expected. She gathered and grouped them into a nice bunch and placed them into an old vase. 

Aquamarine had decided on giving them away, to get a better grip on the emotion known as ‘appreciation’. She knew it was stupid, she just didn’t know what else to do with them. They were nice looking, that was true, but that was the extent of their usefulness, but she didn’t want to disappoint Peridot by doing nothing with them. 

Aquamarine took a look at the handmade bouquet and picked out a few flowers. She picked out a couple of them and returned them to the vase. 

“ _They do smell nice, that’s something I’ll admit_.”

Aquamarine took off. She found Peridot not long after, making what appeared to be yet another shipping chart.

She introduced herself with clearing her throat. Peridot looked behind, half-surprised to see the tiny Gem there. 

“Oh, hey Aquamarine. How you’re doing?”

“Good as ever. I have something to give you.”

“The flowers, isn’t it? I can see them behind your back.”

A blush spread across Aquamarine’s face. “Ah come on, how did you get it so quickly?”

“It’s obvious when you look at. We both know that we’re close friends and that you like flowers. It’s simple, really.”

“Well, you’ve got me.” Aquamarine plucked some flowers from the bouquet and handed them to the green Gem. 

“Here. These are from last week and I wanted you to have some.”

Aquamarine also took out a another pack of flowers and placed them on the ground. “And these are for Steven and Connie. Don’t ask why, just give it to them.”

Peridot’s face quickly became _very_ exaggerated. Her smile could’ve been wide enough to stretch to the corners of her face, and stars found themselves inside them, alongside tears beginning to form. 

She pulled Aquamarine into a bear hug, completely ignoring the fact that the former was already groaning from the pain.

“Aquamarine, thank you thank you thank you so much for this! I didn’t know you could be so kind oh these flowers are so beautiful you really aren’t what you used to be...”

While Peridot was going a spiel and listing off all the great things Aquamarine did during her time on Earth, the cyan Gem was trying not to get her gemstone broken. 

Eventually, Aquamarine managed to wiggle her way out of Peridot’s grasp. When the bigger Gem tried to reach for her, Aquamarine pointed a finger and responded with a “Don’t. Even. Try.”

“But please take these,” Aquamarine added as she held out the bundle of flowers. Peridot obliged and took them.

“Next time, don’t overreact so much, ok?”

“Alright.” 

Peridot then pulled Aquamarine into another hug, this time much lighter. “But is it ok if I do this to you?” 

Aquamarine hesitates for a moment, and then with a smile, replied. 

“You know what? This is fine. This is exactly how it should be.”


	10. The Tower - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems go on a mission. It turns out the tower has a surprise in store for them...

“Do we seriously have to do this again?”

“Relax Aquamarine, nothing bad is going to happen.”

The barn Gems, alongside Connie and Pumpkin, were at the beach house, awaiting Steven and the Crystal Gems return. They had been called for a mission, with Steven insisting that everyone was needed. 

At first, Aquamarine raised an eyebrow at the fusions statement. “All of us are required? Even Pumpkin and the lazy Lapis?”

Lapis glared at her, but it disappeared quickly. 

“Yeah, the Gems said that. Is there any kind of problem Aquamarine?”

“Well, lets say that the last I went on one of these missions, they didn’t turn out... right.”

Steven placed an arm on the tiny Gem’s shoulder. He spoke in a lower tone, “Aquamarine, if anything goes wrong, I promise I’ll protect you. I know that you’re afraid, but that corrupted Gem stuff doesn’t happen all the time, only a little bit!”

“How much of this is true? How do I know you’re not lying?”

“Please. I’m honest.”

Aquamarine stood in silence, slightly taken aback by Steven’s speech. Within a minute, she answered his question. 

“Fine.”

Twenty minutes later and the Crystal Gems hadn’t arrived. Aquamarine was starting to have second thoughts. By the look on Lapis’ face, so was she.

”Does it normally take this long for them to get back here?” 

There was no response. Until Connie spoke up. “I’m not an expert, but I’ll say that this is far longer than usual. Either the Gems got stuck somewhere, or they’re still on the mission.”

Lapis summoned water from the faucet and began to play with it, turning it into various different shapes. Peridot used her ferrokinesis to grab a can and did the same thing. Topaz picked up Pumpkin and stroked her, causing her to doze off. 

Aquamarine groaned and leaned back. “I wished I still had my wand,” she said to no one in particular. 

Lapis stated the obvious. “If you still had it, you would’ve kidnapped everyone and flew off into the night.”

“Back then, maybe. But now? No way, I would’ve remained here.”

“Don’t lie. You were still an attention obsessed Gem with no other plans other than to get off this planet.”

“But still, would it be too much to ask for the thing? It’s so painfully boring in the barn, with not much else to do instead of watching that show and watering the plants. You have your water powers and Peridot has her metal levitation and Topaz with the stick thing.”

Then, an idea struck Aquamarine. It was like an invisible lightbulb turned on, just like on CPH. “What about if I earned it through hard work?”

That got everyone’s attention. Lapis, in particular, had a confused expression. She couldn’t tell if the cyan Gem was joking or completely serious.

“Do you actually believe this could work or or you messing with us?”

“No no, think about it for a moment longer. If I work towards my goal and ask politely, the Gems will let me have it back. After all, Steven said something about hard work paying off. The same applies to everyone, right?”

“I don’t know what’s leading you to believe that the Steven, let alone the Gems would even give you the chance to get it back. I’m not going to say it again, but you are aware of what you’ve done right?”

“But I’ve changed! Look at me, do I look like the same Gem who tried to take humans into space? Am I the same Steven-hating being from the start?” Aquamarine replied with puppy eyes.

Lapis glanced at her. “I’m terms of appearance, you are the same deal. Mentally? So-so.” She went back to playing with her water. 

Around that time, the warp pad was filled with its stream, and Steven and the Gems came.

Lapis and Peridot immediately placed everything back and greeted them, with the other two following suit.

Steven rushed over to Peridot and gave her a hug. “Peri, I’m so glad you’re here! Sorry we took so long, there were some obstacles in the way and we had to take a longer path.”

“No problem Steven. We’re just glad that you didn’t get hurt.”

After Steven released Peridot from his hug, Pearl turned to the warp pad, beckoning the other six to join them. 

“Come now, we can’t waste any time. We’ve already lost about half an hour of time getting back here, the tower could collapse at anytime.”

Pearl’s statement elicited a sound of confusion from Lapis. “Tower? _What_ tower?”

“You’ll see. It’s a huge tower that’ll collapse if we don’t put some magic thingie on it.”

Pearl chirped. “That’s right, Steven. And that’s why we have to get back to it right away.”

“Pearl, calm down.” Garnet tipped her visor. “According to what these futures say, all of them have the tower collapse long after we arrived. There is no reason to worry about it breaking down.”

Hearing that, Pearl’s face shifted from aggravation to one of slight relief. Although her foot still tapped on the floor impatiently. 

“Well then, if that was what you saw, Garnet, then I suppose that we have a bit more time. But it’s no excuse to stand around idly.”

Pearl walked over to her room, shone her gemstone, and went in. As she went deeper in, she called to Connie, “Connie, prepare yourself. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

“Right, Ms!”

After the door closed, most settled down. The only one who didn’t sit down was Connie. 

Garnet sat down next to Topaz and Aquamarine. As the former chatted with the yellow Gem, Aquamarine looked at the fusion with uncertainty. It was clear that she was partly afraid of Garnet, evident by how she bit down on her lip and her arms shook. 

When Peridot decided to sit next to her and give her some condolence, Aquamarine tugged on her arm and pulled her down to her chin.

“Peridot, who and why is a fusion here? Tell her to split up.”

“It’s not that simple. You can’t just tell her to cease existing. It’s like telling Topaz to stop fusing entirely.”

“Why? What’s up with that? Fusions aren’t natural; they’re meant for war. Their only purpose is to carry out orders and win battles.”

“You’re right next to one right now. And what I see is that fusions also have personalities and emotions. They aren’t as emotionless as you think, Aquamarine.”

Aquamarine clucked. “Honest question. How long have you known her?” Aquamarine said while pointing to Garnet. “How can you say these kinds of things without knowing who she really is?” 

“How can you say that when you came here with a Topaz fusion?”

“I know her very well. She’s been on my crew for many rotations. How about her?”

“I’ve known her since I was here. And she’s not as threatening as she looks. At worst, she can be angry with you, but she will never attempt to hurt you.”

Aquamarine looked at the bigger Gem with a hint of uncertainty. Reluctantly, she turned back to Peridot and said, “Fine, I’ll trust you on this.”

Peridot gave her a thumbs up. She was mustering up the courage to ask Garnet a question before Pearl came back, now with some kind of Gem artifact in her hands, and went straight to the warp pad. 

The tall Gem once again motioned for the others to join her. Once they all got the pad, it was clear that it couldn’t fit everyone. 

Topaz was the first to come up with a solution. She lifted Steven and Peridot up on her shoulder, while Lapis picked up Pumpkin and Aquamarine landed on the blue Gem’s head. 

The first thing that everyone saw was the huge tower looming above them, casting a shadow that spread far and wide. True to what Steven said, it was slightly leaning towards the right. Cracks and holes riddled its surface, with drawings of Gems battling.

Topaz took an interest in the building. “Huh. So, this is the place where the mission’s taking place?”

“Looks like that human building I saw on Peridot’s tablet. What was it called, ‘The Leaning Tower Of Pizza?” Aquamarine added.

“That’s right. And we must prevent it from collapsing. We have roughly two hours left to spare.”

“And why do we need to keep it from tumbling down?” Aquamarine questioned. From what she saw, it was just a regular building, with nothing special about it, aside from the patterns.

“It’s an ancient Gem artifact. If it manages to crumble, it could devastate the environment, and countless artifacts will be destroyed!”

“That’s your response to anything Gem-related, isn’t it? The effects of being together with Rose are starting to show, you know.”

Pearl glared at her, while Aquamarine grinned. “ _Another win for Aquamarine_.” 

Garnet began looking for an entrance. She found one, albeit it was much too small for her and it was mostly overshadowed by larger boulders. She summoned her gauntlets and began breaking away at the rocks.

When it was clear that it would require some help from someone else, Garnet called out to Topaz. 

Topaz obeyed and went to help. With their combined efforts, the bigger entrance was made clear in a matter of minutes.

“This would’ve been much easier if I still had my wand,” Aquamarine whined. 

No one payed her any attention, other than an eye roll from Pearl. 

When the group entered the tower, they found that it was somehow illuminated by the engravings set in the stone. They were the same patterns that were present on the outside, but now were glowing blue. 

Aside from those, the tower was basic in its design. A spiral staircase, a large, spacey room, broken statues, vines and moss growing on the ground, and insects were all present.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Aquamarine said in a barely audible voice. 

“Yeah well, this is what ya got when you’re on Earth. Loads of cool places like these. Cool, awesome, and the smells worse than some of Greg’s junk.”

“Ms. Pearl, if I may question you,” Connie chimed in, “why was I brought with you? This seems like an ordinary mission.”

A bird’s caw could be heard, alongside the animal falling down.

“Oh, that’s why. But I don’t hear anything from above.”

A chunk of stone came crashing down, with tiny magenta scorpions crawling out of the newly made hole. All of them had their gemstones on their pincers.

After Amethyst stomped and bubbled them, Connie decided that not asking any more questions would be for the best. 

Garnet split up the team into two factions, the OG Crystal Gems and the Barn Gems. The Crystal Gems checked the top left while the B-Team observed the bottom right.

Nothing was on the top left. Meanwhile, the B-Team encountered more of those scorpions, with a slightly larger one acting as the leader. Just like the ones with Amethyst, they went down without a fight.

After they went upwards, the group discovered that the second floor was basically the same, other than the different murals and a few Gem shards here and there.

All of the floors the Gems went through were more or less the same, with minor differences. Interest was slowly but surely starting to die, and every time Lapis or Aquamarine attempted to travel outside the place out of a what could’ve been a sort of window, some bird Gem thing swooped down and took them down faster than anyone could react.

On the twenty-fifth floor, everyone decided it was time for a break. Steven and Connie were coated in sweat by now, and Peridot wasn’t doing too good herself.

The aforementioned practically collapsed, with only Lapis preventing them from falling flat on their faces.

“I knew you got tired easily, Peridot, but wow, this easily? Didn’t you get hit by a falling boulder and managed to not poof?”

“That’s different. That was a feat of physical strength and not a matter of energy, like this is. Besides, you flew all the way here!”

Lapis gave no rebuttal as she floated down and put away her wings. 

While Amethyst napped, Pearl was wide awake and was acting as a sort of guard alongside Garnet. She seemed the least tired and would’ve continued on had Steven not suggest the rest break.

The white Gem tried to wake up Amethyst with no success. Pearl got Garnet’s attention and said something in a voice barely higher than a whisper.

As Peridot’s attention shifted towards Steven, she yawned and inspected the intricate details of the Gem drawings, hoping to find something she missed. 

Much to her disappointment, there were no hidden details or some kind of secret meaning. They were plain as the ground.

“Ugh, couldn’t they have added any flair to these things?” Peridot said to no one in particular.

Lapis raised an eyebrow at the question. “What do you mean by ‘flair’? They’re already detailed enough as they are. Like, have you seen some of them?” Lapis pointed towards one in particular that was littered with them. So much so that she didn’t bother picking out each one of them.

When the smaller Gem set her eyes on it, they widened for quite a bit before noticing Lapis’ face that read ‘I win’. 

“Ok, I admit that one is adorned with such, but what about the others? They’re all bland and boring, as I said. They may appear everywhere in this area, but everything follows the same premise; Gem fighting Gem, with rows of smaller Gems fighting for some object.”

“Ehh, I don’t know about that, Peridot. Yeah, they may be the same thing, but isn’t that what Camp Pining Hearts is at its core?” Aquamarine chimed in. 

Lapis commented also commented on the Gem’s statement. “What does that show have anything to do with this? It may be the same thing every episode, but there’s nothing in common aside from that similarity.”

Aquamarine raised her hands in defeat. “Ok, I take that back. It was just something I thought of on a whim. Point is, this whole thing has started to become boring.” 

“ _That’s_ something we can agree on. I think I’m gonna try taking a nap.” 

Peridot and Aquamarine nodded in agreement. All three shut their eyes and relaxed. They began to slowly grow more tired and for a short while, it seemed that sleeping was a possibility.

Until Pearl hollered that it was time to get moving. While the desire to tell Pearl off was strong, it would be enough to strain their relationship even further, and so they obeyed the Gem and ventured upwards. 

Like the other floors, they were all plain in design. Nothing changed that much, aside from different types of corrupted Gems and maybe a trap here and there. 

At last, after an hour of walking, grumbling, and one more rest break, they were at the top. At this point, everyone was exhausted. Even Pearl, who had kept a straight face throughout the mission was starting to falter. Aquamarine couldn’t read Garnet’s expression, but the tiny Gem thought, “ _She must be out of energy by now. No one could do all this and not be close to passing out._ ”

The pedestal, in all its cracked glory stood north to them. Pearl walked straight to it, determined to get this over with. 

Her eyes were straight on the object. Maybe that’s why she didn’t notice the out-of-place tile, which was a lighter shade of gray. 

Immediately, the tile sank, and the surface started to shake. All signs of tiredness were practically nonexistent as the groups eyes shot open.

“Yo Pearl, What the heck did you do?!” Amethyst shouted. Pearl began to frantically look for whatever switch or trap she activated. When the tall Gem spotted the tile, she removed her foot from it.

It was too late by now. A dome appeared, surrounding the entire tower. 

The Crystal Gems tried attacking the dome, from Garnet’s rocket punches to Pearl’s lasers, nothing worked on it. Anything that touched it simply disappeared. 

Soon after, everyone’s eyesight began to worsen. It was soon becoming impossible to focus on one thing. 

And then, there was a flash of blue light. And darkness came. 

Steven was the first one to wake up. The first thing he did was to inspect his body for any damage.

Thankfully, no major injuries were present, only a small cut was on his arm. He started to examine the others for any kind of gashes or scars. 

That’s when he looked around at the area. 

This wasn’t the tower. In fact, wherever this was wasn’t _anywhere_ he recognized.

Instead of the flat field, jagged rocks and crevices took its place. There was not a hint of grass anywhere. Even the ground was rock. 

It didn’t take long for reality to dawn on him. 

Whatever that blue dome was, it teleported him somewhere. And from the looks of it, it was far, very far from the nearest warp pad.

He was lost. Dead lost.


	11. The Tower - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group tries to find their way in the mysteriously wasteland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is anticlimactic as shit lol

After the rest woke up, Steven ran over to them to check their bodies for any damage. Thankfully, other than a small cut on Connie’s arm, no cuts or cracks were present on their gemstones. 

It took a minute for the Gems to fully take understand what happened. At first, Pearl didn’t believe it, insisting that the tower was somehow playing tricks on their minds. She shook her head to clear her mind, and when that didn’t work, wiping her eyes and then closing them were the best decisions.

The other Gems looked in silence. When it dawned on her that they were in the middle of nowhere, she gave a short yell and kicked a rock. 

“This is impossible! How can we be here all of a sudden?! I’m very certain that we were on a tower before... this happened!”

Amethyst reached for a small stone and swallowed it. She spat it out and said dryly, “Yup, we’re totally somewhere else. No magic tricks or anything like that.” 

“You activated a trap. You stepped on a tile, and we were teleported here as a result.” Garnet added. 

“But the tower! The artifact! It was most likely destroyed during whatever happened! We’ll never get another chance at restoring it! And we were here _sleeping_!”

Peridot noticed something else other than the area or the tower. “Wait a minute... has the sky always been so orangish?” 

The attention was now on the sky. Peridot was right; it certainly wasn’t as bright as it used to be. The air also seemed to have been taken down a few notches in temperature. 

“We left somewhere around afternoon,” Connie pointed out. “From what I’ve learned about the sun at school, it should be around dusk.”

Connie gasped seconds later. “My parents. My mom is going to kill me once we get back! Granted, they probably won’t be back until late at night, but if we stay out here...”

Connie’s fears were confirmed as growls could be heard from the distance. 

“Ms., have you experienced any nocturnal Gems during your missions?”

“A few have been spotted over my existence, but they were still as active and hostile during the day. Though it would still be for the best to leave this area immediately.”

While the main Crystal Gems were panicking over the problem and started to look for solutions, the B-team remained where they were. Despite the situation, only Peridot looked frantic. Pumpkin wasn’t even running around and barking up a storm.

The green Gem took a look at her companions, specifically Aquamarine. She was surprised at how calm their faces were, especially Aquamarine, who kept her disinterested face from the start.

“You all don’t look like you’re scared one bit. I would expect all of you to be freaking out right now. Even you, Aquamarine.”

“So? I’m not terrified at the prospect of being stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no communication to ring back home. I already experience it all the time.”

Lapis agreed with her. “I agree with Aquamarine. We’ve all been through much worse. In fact, we’re practically bad luck magnets at this point.” 

Peridot turned to look at Topaz. “Even you, Topaz?” 

She only responded with a shrug. 

“Ok... let’s get back on point. Lapis, Aquamarine, look for some kind of familiar patch of land. Topaz, go with them in case a there’s a corrupted Gem attack. Pumpkin will stay with me.

Without much to say, the three and Peridot went their own ways. 

After a quick search around the area, the two blue Gems descended from the sky, looking bored out of their minds.

“You found anything?” Topaz asked, exhausted from wandering around, looking for any threats.

Lapis shook her head. “Nope. There’s nothing out there, not even a plant or birds.”

“Bah! How are we supposed to get out of here?” Aquamarine pointed a finger as she said, “This place is dead! Absolutely nothing is here besides us. There weren’t even any Earth creatures, not even those annoying flies that swarm the barn on bad days!”

Aquamarine directed her attention back towards Topaz. “And I assume you’re having similar luck?”

“Correct. Except for some small deformed Gems, I saw no one else than you two flying around.”

Aquamarine threw her arms in defeat. “Welp, that settles it. We’re alone here. We’ll be lucky if there’s any kind of life here, and stars save us if the Crystal Gems look for an exit.”

“Well, I’m not wasting my time sitting around here. We should go back and report our progress to Peridot.” 

“I say that’s the only solution. Get up everyone, we march back to...”

She paused, not knowing what to say. She couldn’t tell where the group came from. Heck, she didn’t even know _how_ long she and Lapis were flying.

“Wait, no... that can’t be true... Now that I think about it, how long were we out here for? That sun looks even deeper down than before, and I lost track of time long after I and Lapis started flying.” 

“I think we’ve been up there for at least an hour. The sun’s already disappeared, and we left around dusk, no?” 

“True. That means we’re potentially lost, and we have no idea which way is right. I’ll settle this.” 

Aquamarine cupped her mouth. “HEY, PERIDOT! CAN YOU HEAR US!? YELL IF YOU CAN AND SCREAM IF YOU’RE BEING ATTACKED!”

As expected, no answer. A loud groan escaped from Aquamarine’s mouth as she crumpled to the cold, rocky floor. 

“Great. Just plain great. Not only did tee mission flop, but due to some stupid trap, no we’re stuck here with no way out. We’ll die here, sad and alone.”

Lapis did the same. “I’m never going on a mission again with these Gems. The only reason I came here was because of Steven.”

“Same.” 

Besides them, Topaz stood above them, not sure what to do. She was the only member that hadn’t succumbed to despair, and was determined to not give up so early on. She was a sort of a beacon of hope and stability, something that she picked up from Garnet. 

After all, it was her who stopped Lapis from getting violent with Aquamarine and protected Peridot whenever her inventions went haywire.

“ _Maybe I could give them hope, like what Steven did to me._ ” Topaz let the thought stay as she watched the two Gems bemoan over their current situation. And during their training, Topaz felt an urge to jump in and defend Steven and Connie.

“ _Giving them hope is now necessary. I can’t watch them do nothing other then mope_.”

Topaz cleared her throat and got on equal ground as her companions. They couldn’t care less, from what Topaz could tell from their expressions.

“Get up, both of you. We’re going back to Peridot.” 

Aquamarine barked a laugh. “Please. We have no idea were we even are. Point us towards a direction and we will end up even more loss.”

“We shouldn’t give up hope so soon. _You_ shouldn’t lose hope the moment things look bad. We might not be as lost as we think we are.”

Aquamarine’s face turned into one of a sneer. “What’s gotten into you, Topaz? Have your components had a good morning? Did the adventure at the tower rile you up?

“Please listen to me. If we just stand here, we’ll never get anywhere. We could be shattered, or be left here, or worse, be forced into walking the Earth forever. I’m sure one of these options will make you happy.”

“All right.” Aquamarine got up from the ground. Topaz saw this as a sign of acceptance, before the small Gem was up in the air, much faster than she expected, and was on her shoulder in an instant.

“I’m still not convinced that we still have some tiny smidge of hope. Give me all the reasons why you think there’s hope and I’ll trust you on it. Otherwise, you’ll end up looking even more of a fool and a bonehead then you previously were.”

“Lazuli, you hearing this?” Aquamarine yelled. 

“All clear,” Lapis replied while giving a thumbs up. She was now leaning on a pillar of rock, staring at Topaz with a half-interested look.

Meanwhile, inside the mind of the yellow Gem was a whirlwind of chaotic thoughts. She was sure that Aquamarine was joking before the former put on a serious expression and responded with, “Don’t leave us waiting, Topaz. Hurry up.”

“ _Is she joking?! This is insane! I’ve known here better then her own kind and this is what she resorts to_?”

It was true; Topaz did know Aquamarine better than anyone else. Even the other Aquamarines didn’t bother to see through the snobby, narcissistic behavior she oh so loved. She still wasn’t a saint in the slightest, but she was more of a snarky, spoiled brat than some kind of merciless invader. 

That being said, Aquamarine was still the type to mess around with her victims before disposing of them. One time, as Topaz recalled, when a pair of Gems were begging for their lives, Aquamarine asked them to give her a list of reasons why she should have spared them. Ultimately, the two failed to give out even a single reason, and they were quickly shattered. 

It was to give Aquamarine a good laugh before either ignoring or shattering someone. That’s all it was.

“So?” The sudden change in tone jolted Topaz back to the present. Now with the same bored face Lapis had, Aquamarine simply waited. Somehow, it was worse and made the yellow Gem paranoid about what she was planning. 

While Topaz was struggling to put together a response, Aquamarine knew that it was enough. She too, saw enough of Topaz to know that this was the final straw. 

“Well then, I assume this issue end? Pretty poor for a so-called ‘beacon of hope’.

“I’m not giving up yet. There are some things that you need to see.“

The tiny Gem was starting to become irritated by Topaz’s persistence. She had given her everything she had to ensure that she wouldn’t be able to change her stance, that no matter how much optimism she tried to provide, it would fail. And here she was.

“ _She’s stalling. She knows she doesn’t have anything to hit me with, and this is the result. Is she so foolish to believe that we’ll find our way out of here?_ ” 

Just as Topaz was about to give up, Lapis spoke up. “Hey, what’s that shining thing over there?” 

The duo turned their heads towards the dark landscape. 

At first, it seemed that Lapis was playing a trick on them, as there was nothing that was ‘shining’. 

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing ‘shiny’ out there. Are you trying to play with us?”

There was another flash of light. This time, it was noticed by Aquamarine. When she tried to pinpoint the location of it though, she came up with nothing. Whatever made it was too small to be seen at this distance.

“You know,” Topaz said. “I think that light was green. Do you two think that was made by Peridot? I’ve heard that Gems can send out distress signals to alert others to their presence.”

Lapis and Aquamarine hesitated at first. After a minute was given to wrestle with their thoughts, they nodded. 

No words were spoken as the trio made their way downwards. Everything knew what roles should they take, with Topaz on foot, Aquamarine to scout for potential dangers, and Lapis to the skies. 

The task to locate the source of the flash proved to be harder then expected. First of all, somehow the trio managed to miss that the lower part was covered with rocks of all sizes, from pebbles to stone pillars nearly the size of the barn. Naturally, this made it nearly impossible to pin down the exact location; only rough estimates could be made. Aquamarine compared it to trying to find a planet that had intelligent life to a vast solar system of dead ones.

Eventually, Lapis came to rest on a rock. Aquamarine joined her soon after. 

As Lapis narrowed her eyes and scanned the landscape, even on her rest break, Aquamarine decided on taking another look at the field of stones. Maybe she missed it by some slim chance. 

A minute later proved that wasn’t the case. When Lapis was in the same position as before and still looking for the gemstone, Aquamarine questioned her abilities.

“So, your ability to control water. Why aren’t you using it? Is there any water nearby?”

“Tried that. Didn’t work.” Lapis raised her hand, and all that came out was an amount that was similar to a handful. 

“This is all I can get out. I can sense more, but it’s so deep underground that it’s impossible.” 

Another flash of light came, now brighter then before. The sounds of reformation could be heard soon after. 

The duo lit up upon hearing it. After turning around, Lapis found Peridot, who was struggling to get herself out, stuck between two rocks. Pumpkin, to a lesser extent, was with her, also in a similar situation. Eager to have their leader and team pet back, the two pried them out, ready to give the Gem a reprimanding for going on her own.

However, when Peridot was turned back upwards, there was something off about her. And that’s when the realization struck.

Her gemstone was cracked. Pumpkin also had a nasty gash on her right side. Other features, such as the occasional glitching out and blank eyes, were ignored. And worse, the crack seemed to be spreading. 

Topaz found the two to see what was going on. While she was in relief that Peridot was ok, Aquamarine was the exact opposite, forehead drenched in sweat and a terrified expression replaced her usually neutral face.

Lapis wasn’t fazed by the event as much as she expected. Sure, that crack looked ugly and it was bound to get worse, but it wasn’t something Steven couldn’t fix. Now, Aquamarine, on the other hand...

She was holding Peridot’s head like how a soldier would hold his comrades fallen body. Her lips quivered as she fell deeper into despair. “Oh no. No no no no... This can’t be true. It simply can’t.”

Topaz was now here for a while, giving Lapis a slight surprise. When the blue Gem glanced at Topaz, her face was nearly the same as Aquamarine’s. 

“*Welp, looks like it’s up to me to make sure Aquamarine doesn’t succumb to despair. Topaz isn’t in the mood to do so, judging by her face.*”

Lapis got a little bit closer to Aquamarine. She was still in grief about Peridot, which the speech Lapis was about to give would only shock her even more.

“Aquamarine, if I may, I have something to say.” 

The aforementioned was slightly startled over the sudden voice. She recovered from it and took a look at Lapis. Her face was still streamed with tears, and her face now had a hint of annoyance, as if she didn’t want someone to interrupt her ‘mourning’.

“What is it?” Aquamarine asked in a voice both sad and irritated. 

”There’s a way to heal Peridot’s gem.” 

At first, Aquamarine stared at Lapis with a look of disbelief. Shortly after, she simply laughed dryly and wiped a tear off her face. “Good joke. Peridot’s dying and you’re trying to crack one. _Real nice_.” 

“I’m not joking. That isn’t incurable. In fact, I once had a cracked gem.” 

“If you’re going to try and lie, you could at least put a little more effort into it. Unlike poor Peridot, I don’t see you suffering...” Aquamarine took a glance at Peridot, who now was spasming and shouting gibberish at anything she looked at. “... whatever you call whats happening to Peridot right now.”

Lapis was at her breaking point. Aquamarine’s persistence and tendency to whine only annoyed her at best and angered her at worst. But now? When Peridot’s life was at stake? She was being insufferable. Lapis felt a tremendous urge to punch the tiny Gem, but managed to hold it back, as she knew it would only make things worse.

“I may not have any evidence, but I can assure you that it happened. And I know how to cure it.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“What if Peridot dies due to your meddling?”

The blue Gem’s remark snapped Aquamarine out of her grief. She was initially stunned by Lapis, with Topaz appearing to be equally as shocked as well.

Without hesitation, Aquamarine grabbed Peridot and Topaz tightly and started to rise to the sky. She looked at Lapis and asked, “Are you coming or not?”

The flight back to their starting point took about twenty five minutes. It would’ve been shorter if Aquamarine didn’t feel the need to land and rest. 

How they got back was a matter of retracing their footprints. When Lapis pointed this out to Aquamarine, adding the fact that they could’ve done this earlier, she was loaded with embarrassment with a blush present on her face for the rest of the trip.

After they arrived, Aquamarine dropped Topaz while delicately placing Peridot somewhere where she couldn’t get any worse. She let Pumpkin stay with her. Even in her cracked form, Peridot still loved Pumpkin, and spoke to her in a loving tone, even if the majority of it was garbled nonsense.

Aquamarine herself leaned on a towering pillar of rock, with Lapis joining her after a short while. For the first time in a while, she was thoroughly exhausted and wanted nothing more for this horrible nightmare of a mission to be over. Lapis shared her sentiments.

“You know, the night looks more beautiful than I thought.” 

She pointed to a string of stars. “Like that. It looks like some kind of Earth illustration.”

“That’s called a constellation, Aquamarine. And I think that one’s called the Big Dipper.”

“Interesting.”

“Indeed.”

They remained in that position, observing the night sky. This one moment of peace was interrupted by the sounds of Pumpkin running over to them and barking.

The poor thing looked like it was about to collapse at any moment now. During the flight, her state worsened, turning her skin from a lively orange to a sickeningly orange-grayish color. Her habit of coughing up pumpkin seeds did little to ease Lapis, and on more than one occasion she and Aquamarine had to resist retching. 

Pumpkin leapt into Lapis’ arms. “There there, you’re ok now, little buddy,” Lapis said, comforting the pet. 

Pumpkin had brought another thing with her. Soon after, Steven appeared, with the Gems and Connie in tow. Just like herself, they were also tired and had numerous scratches and bruises, to a lesser extent. Steven and Connie looked worse, though that might’ve been the bags under their eyes.

When he approached Lapis, he was too tired to ask a full questions and simply said two words:

“What happened?”

“Long story cut short, Peridot and Pumpkin got trapped under a rock. Pumpkin got a huge cut while Peridot’s gem is cracked.”

Steven turned around and took a look at Peridot, who was now glitching out every few seconds and spouting out even more gibberish than before. 

Without a sound, Steven walked over to the short Gem, slathered his spit on his hand, and rubbed over the gemstone. There was a pink flash, and Peridot got up. He did the same to Pumpkin. 

While Lapis was happy to see that her roommate and pet didn’t die, Aquamarine, on the other hand, was overjoyed. She probably would’ve hugged her is she wasn’t so tired. 

The rest of the trip went smoothly, surprisingly. The Gems discovered a path that had a strong chance to leading them to the warp. The good news, obviously, was that there was hope. The bad news was that this path lead through the Kindergarten. 

While there was some protest, much of it coming from Aquamarine, the group went through with it. And although the Kindergarten was twice as creepy during the night, nothing come out of the holes to attack them. 

When the Crystal Gems arrived back at the house, the B-team left immediately. 

At the barn, Aquamarine, Topaz, and Peridot collapsed on the floor immediately. Pumpkin curled up while Lapis set her eyes on the first floor. 

There was only this exchange between the green and cyan Gems:

“I’m never going to go on a mission again.”

“Agreed.”


	12. Homesick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aquamarine’s acting strange. Peridot sets to find out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this chapter is a little bit rushed, if y’all don’t mind.

She wouldn’t admit it, but it was obvious that she missed Homeworld. 

Peridot took note of it when she started taking visits to her ship. It started out innocent enough, one visits a day. Then it increased to two a day, three. Even four on some days. 

Stargazing was also something Aquamarine was more enthusiastic about. Previously, she treated it the same way she had treated other activities. Just a way to kill time. 

Like with most of her views on Earth and such, she quickly grew out of this. Waiting in the desert and her natural curiosity probably helped. 

But something was off. Aquamarine was never someone who would dedicate herself to doing something for periods of a long time, so it came as a shock when Peridot spotted her spending hours looking for constellations and such.

There were other factors, such as the times she went into rambling on about the history of the planet and how there was a distant gaze in her eyes every time it was mentioned being the most prominent, but the former two were the most glaring.

So, Peridot came up with her first plan to catch her in the act. Follow her, hide behind a car or two, wait for the right moment, and introduce herself. 

Obviously, after thinking about it for a few minutes afterward, Peridot scrapped the plan, as that kind of thing only worked out in CPH. 

She decided on a more practical way. She’d join her when Aquamarine was out and then proceed to question her. 

With that in mind, Peridot did a couple of stretches, reached for the remote, and flipped on the TV. It was going to be a long day.

When night came, Peridot was starting to have conflicting feelings about the whole ordeal. She was all for learning more about Homeworld, especially from a high ranking Gem like her, but Peridot also had a feeling that the more she pressed on about it, the more likely Aquamarine would try to back out or get suspicious. After all, Peridot was never the kind who could start a conversation off the bat. 

After taking a deep breath, Peridot spotted the tiny Gem staring at the night sky, completely engrossed. Truth be told, it unnerved Peridot a little. 

She sat a distance away from Aquamarine, doing the same as her. Once she regained her composure, Peridot scooted over to Aquamarine, little by little.

Aquamarine didn’t change when Peridot got close to her. In fact, she seemed even more interested in the stars than before, like she found a new constellation. Or she could’ve been trying to ignore Peridot.

Peridot didn’t take her eyes off the sky, and so didn’t Aquamarine. When it became clear that Aquamarine wasn’t going to start talking, Peridot took it into her own hands. 

“So, hi.” 

Aquamarine flinched, than relaxed when she heard the green Gem’s voice. “Oh, it’s you. Hey.”

“So I see that you’re interested in stargazing of lately.”

“Ah, so that’s what it’s called. I guess you could say that.”

“How is it? The stargazing, I mean.” 

“It’s relaxing. Lapis introduced it to me. Sometimes, I sit here for hours without moving a finger.” 

“Oh yeah, I know that feeling. Sometimes you get so into it that you don’t notice anything else.”

There was silence for a couple of minutes. During the time span, Peridot snatched a book about stars. She leafed through the pages until she found an index about various constellations. 

She passed the book to Aquamarine. “This is a book on space related topics, including constellations. Think you’ll like it,” Peridot said as the green Gem put her arms behind her head and laid down.

With a quiet “Thanks,” Aquamarine took it. 

One minute later, she placed it on the ground. She looked at Peridot and said with a smile, “I appreciate the book. I’ll get you something in return.”

“Aww, that’s kind of you. Though that’s odd for something like that coming out of your mouth.”

“What can I say? I’ve changed. Guess Earth really does do something to your heads.” 

“Maybe Steven’s gotten into you. That would explain it.”

“He certainly does have that effect on everyone he meets. He’s like, what was is it called again? A beacon of hope?” 

Peridot nodded in response, like how a teacher would congratulate a student on correctly answering a question. “You’re right on the ‘beacon of hope’ thing. Everything seems to be better whenever Steven’s around. No wonder he makes friends with everyone he meets.” 

For a while, there wasn’t much of a conversation. After Peridot settled down, Aquamarine took off and came back with a notebook. The twenty minutes afterwards were dedicated to her sketching down the many constellations she found inside the book and trying to find them on the sky.

When Aquamarine couldn’t find a single one, she nearly threw the notebook. Luckily, she didn’t let her impulses get the best of her and simply set aside the object while grumbling. 

Aquamarine slid down. If she had a nose, she would be pinching it by now. “Now that I think about it, finding a constellation is so much harder than I thought it would be.”

“Same.” 

The voice belonged to Lapis, who was sitting next to Peridot. Aquamarine would’ve ben easily startled by her presence, but a headache was starting to form, so she simply gave a curt, “Oh, you’re here.” 

“How long have you been here? I’ll have to start keeping an eye out for you next time.”

“Not long. I just wanted a place to relax and well, this place was the best I could find.”

“Nah,” Peridot replied, “There’s another reason you’re here. Something that none of us would expect...” 

She began to look at and around Lapis, to her ire. And when that didn’t yield results, Peridot climbed out and started to investigate Lapis’ stash. 

Peridot didn’t get far before Lapis stopped her by creating a tentacle and forcefully pulled her back. She landed face first.

“Oww...”

“Now you know not to get snoopy. Especially around my stuff.”

After getting up, Peridot raises her hands in defeat. “Alright, I apologize.” 

“Apology accepted. Just don’t do anything like that again.” 

Peridot didn’t have anything to say to that. And so, the trio simply stared at the stars, enjoying a rare moment of serenity in the chaotic life in the barn.

At this point, Peridot had nearly forgotten about her original objective. While she did want to know more about why Aquamarine was starting to get homesick, she also didn’t want to ruin this moment. 

“ _I’ll wait. She has to speak up at some point_.” Peridot was content with the thought.

No one spoke until Lapis took out her own notebook and pencil. She got Aquamarine’s attention and pointed to the sky. From what Peridot could hear from their chatter, she was having trouble spotting constellations. 

“Eh. Don’t worry about it,” Aquamarine said. “Those things are rare. There’s only one or two of them out tonight. Don’t bother yourself with it.”

“Oh.” Lapis looked genuinely confused, like she expected that they all would be here. “That makes more sense.” 

Aquamarine went on a lecture about the stars and their various properties, like how hot they were, how many of them were speculated to be in the universe, and most importantly, how they went up in a bang. 

It was cut short when Lapis pointed her finger at a familiar arrangement of stars. “Hey, those stars kinda look like your ship.”

Aquamarine shut her mouth. She narrowed her eyes while frantically starting to look for them. “Where? Where’s the position? The arrangement? How many are there?”

This caught Peridot’s attention as well. Immediately after, the green Gem was straight up and managed to squeeze herself between the two Gems. 

“What... are you doing?” Lapis asked, the first part drawn out as she took a step back.

“It’s there! To the bottom left!”

“Oh yeah! There it is!”

As she spent more time looking at it, her face shifted from one of emotion to a more solemn one.

“Heh... it’s been such a long time. How long has it been? One and a half month ever since I arrived to take most of Beach City to space?”

“Yup. I can’t believe it either. From a cold, snobby, and easily angered Gem to a mellowed out one, its been quite the change.”

“I propose we call it ‘The Peridot effect’.” Lapis replied. 

Crickets could be heard before Lapis hurriedly added in, “Because, you know, what you’ve gone through is really similar to what Peridot’s been through.”

“Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad to me.” That came from Peridot, who was genuinely interested in the phrase. “‘The Peridot Effect.’ Hmm... Yeah, that does sound good!”

Aquamarine turned back to Lapis and gave her a grin. “Congratulations Lapis, you’ve created a new phrase. We could probably get that in a dictionary if we try hard enough.”

A snicker escaped the blue Gem’s mouth. “ _Lovebirds_ ,” Lapis said in a quiet voice. Neither of the other Gems seemed to notice this. 

“So, if you two are done cuddling...” Lapis’ voice brought the two back to Earth. “What were you about to say about those stars?”

“Cuddling? What’s that?” 

“Like what you’re doing right now.” It was only then that Aquamarine looked down and realized that she was way too close for her own comfort. She didn’t hesitate pulling herself apart from the small Gem.

“Oh, right. Anyways, uh, we should get back on track. What did you say again?” 

“You said those,” Lapis stated, raising a finger, “look like your ship.” 

“Ah, right. My ship...” 

While Aquamarine was internally brooding, Lapis gave Peridot a thumbs up. Peridot couldn’t decide if that was supposed to be a good or bad thing.

All Peridot could give back was a weak smile. “ _Guess she knew after all._ ”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about. You seem to be growing sick for Homeworld.”

“Ah. So I guess this is what this has all been leading up to?”

“Kinda...” Peridot replied while brushing a hand against the back of her head. 

“Look, this is getting out of hand. It’s ok for you to feel homesick, but I don’t think visiting your spaceship five times out of seven is a good sign.”

“I know. But still, that spaceship meant so much to me. It was one of my few possessions, other than my wand. And now? It’s broken!” 

“This again? You know very well that it *had* to be destroyed for the sake of everyone in this town. If not, than this place would become little more than a ghost town, and the Gems would never forgive themselves. Especially Steven.” 

For a short moment, Aquamarine appeared ready to have an argument with the green Gem. It all but disappeared when she simply gave a sigh and muttered, “You do have a point.” A solemn expression appeared on the cyan Gem’s face, and it looked like she was about to go into a fit of depression...

...until that same face melted as quickly as it appeared. A bright one took its place, and Peridot swore she could hear a light bulb going off above Aquamarine’s head.

“Wait a minute. Peridot, your kind are technicians, right?”

“If that ship wasn’t made by Peridots or Bismuths, than no one could’ve built it.”

“And you have experience with ships as well? Preferably building them, but if you managed to get ahold of a blueprint of one, that’s fine too.”

Peridot raised and eyebrow. In the back, Lapis did the same. “Where are you going with this?” 

“Just answer the question. Please?” 

“I’ve had some experience with them. Keyword being ‘some’ here.”

There was no hint of the calm and developed Aquamarine from before. It was as if she was replaced by a hyperactive child. “I was wondering if you could... you know, repair it?”

Peridot nearly fell down from pure shock. “ _Repair your ship?_ Are you crazy?”

“If you’re wondering about the whole ‘kidnap humans’ thing, than don’t worry, I’ve moved past that a long time ago.”

“But _why_? You know the consequences of doing so. The Gems are still iffy about you, sans Steven, obviously. If they found out about this whole plan...”

“Bah! You claim to have built a robot back when you were still new here, if I recall correctly. And I never heard about any consequences. If you can build something like _that_ and get off scot free, than what’s stopping you and me from repairing the spacecraft?”

“You just reminded me, I didn’t tell you the full story. One, the Crystal Gems were there to watch over me and to ensure I didn’t try to trick them. Two, I built that robot solely for competing with Pearl, and it was destroyed a while after.”

“It was destroyed? You mean after you told off Yellow Diamond?” 

A blush was on Peridot’s face instantly. From the way she spoke, she was treating it like it was an extremely embarrassing memory. “Well, I guess you can put it like that...”

Snickering could be heard from both of the blue Gems. The embarrassed blush only grew larger, but nonetheless Peridot still gave a warm smile. 

“But seriously,” Peridot suddenly said, setting the mood back to the way it was, “I’m afraid that ship will have to stay broken. The risks are simply too large to ignore.” 

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Maybe some time in the future, when my trust is fully repaired with them, I’ll have a chance.”

“If it lightens the mood,” Lapis interjected, making her way to the two small Gems, “I tried to escape Earth once by stealing the worlds water. And I mean all of it.”

“Wait, _seriously_? You’re strong for a Lazuli, but that feat of nature is, to put it lightly, absurd.”

“Everything about it is true. Peridot can tell you more about it.” 

“Oh yes, she’s not lying about it at all. There’s so much you should hear, and I think the best time would be now.”

And so the night from then on turned to stories about Lapis’ feats of power to Peridot’s iron-hard defense. Some time afterwards, Topaz joined in and brought in her own stories from beyond the galaxy. 

It was all too reminiscent of typical campfire tales. And while Aquamarine normally would consider it childlike, on this night, she managed to keep her mouth closed.

“ _It’s nice to have friends like these._ ” She thought.


	13. Mending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems need Aquamarine.

It was a typical morning at the barn. 

Peridot, Aquamarine, and Lapis were up, each invested in their own interests. Topaz was still groggy and hadn’t made any attempts to get up, while Pumpkin was in deep sleep still. 

Meanwhile, Aquamarine was up in the attic, now called the ‘workshop’, courtesy of Peridot. Currently, she was holding a schematic of an object which looked like a sort of miniature cannon, aptly named “Peri-Cannon”.

Peridot held out her hand. “Aquamarine, would you be so kind as to hand over the screwdriver?” 

Aquamarine spoke no words as she passed the object. Peridot didn’t bother giving a thanks. 

As Peridot continued to work on her project, Aquamarine started to grow bored. It had been one and a half-hour since she was up here, and while she got a much better look at the place than the last time she was here, ultimately, there was little to do other than sit around and give the green Gem whatever tools she needed. 

There was a part of Aquamarine that wanted to protest, to speak out against her position, to just sit around and fiddle with the half-broken inventions that were scattered around the place.

But alas, that thought died down as she remembered one crucial detail; she had no experience in machines, both Earth and Homeworld. The Gem had her ship and wand, but she never looked into it very much. 

So, for the time being, she was stuck lounging around, looking at blueprints of Earth machinery while trying not to die of boredom. 

“Hey, Peridot, why do you have these things anyway?” Peridot turned around to see Aquamarine holding up a blueprint of a tractor. 

“I use those for reference. They help me get a better idea of what I should try to aim for in an invention.”

“Fair enough. But, for something as complex as you’re building right now,” Aquamarine said as she pointed to the cannon, which was now much more complex than the one on the schematic. “Wouldn’t it be better if you chose to take inspiration from, oh I don’t know, something more futuristic?

The small Gem shrugged. “Eh. That was only the basics. You can start off simple, and then quickly turn it into something advanced.” 

“Or, it could be that your natural tendencies as a worker could be acting up again. You also had your very own Robonoids too.”

“Well, that too.”

Silence followed. Aquamarine diverted her attention to some books to the back of the attic.

At the very least, they were more entertaining than watching and passing time through Peridot. But as of all things, not even this was enough to fully cure Aquamarine’s boredom, and it came back a while later. 

In fact, she must’ve fallen asleep, because the next moment, Peridot was shaking her. One hand was on her ear.

“Wake up. Someone’s calling for you.”

A voice was the next thing she heard. After the initial moment of peace that followed, that same voice, now louder, came ringing through, shaking the barn. 

“Who’s that?!” 

“I’m asking the same question! 

The two climbed down and followed the source of the voice. They spotted Lapis covering her head in a pillow, while Topaz was sitting upwards, and Pumpkin was now barking and running in circles.

After getting to the front, Aquamarine and Peridot split up and went to search for the voice. 

Neither Peridot nor Aquamarine got far before a figure entered the building. 

It was Steven. Upon seeing them, he waved at them. Upon seeing him, however, the two quickly regrouped with a shocked expression plastered on their faces. 

“Hey, guys!”

“Steven?! That was _you_?!” Both of the Gems spoke in unison. Steven didn’t look one bit embarrassed.

“Oh yeah, that kinda happened from time to time. Guess it must be my Gem powers acting up again.“ 

“None of the other Gems can do this. Not even Pearl, that loudmouth...” Aquamarine mused. Both Steven and Peridot didn’t seem to mind Aquamarine’s remark.

“Sooo... what are you here for?” Peridot asked Steven. 

“The Gems want to talk with Aquamarine.”

That stopped Aquamarine in her tracks. She slowly turned her gaze to Steven with a face that read ‘you must be lying’.

“ _What?_ ” Aquamarine said after some time. 

“I know, I had the same thing happen when the Gems told me this. But I assure you that it’s true.”

“Whatever those wretched rebels want, I’m not going with them. No matter what they say.” 

“C’mon! If it’s about what happened last time-“ 

“Those last _two_ times, you mean.” Aquamarine’s sudden interruption was met with an annoyed Peridot. Once again, Steven pushed this aside.

“I absolutely promise you won’t go on a dangerous mission. Please, _please_ trust me.”

The tiny Gem just stared at the boy. For a few minutes, it seemed as if the former would dismiss Steven and return to her usual hobbies. 

Than, Aquamarine gave a long sigh and held her forehead. “Because this is coming from you, I’ll trust you on this. But beware, if this turns out to be some kind of-“

In a flash second, the blue Gem was wrapped in a bear hug by Steven. Aquamarine considered it to be worse than Peridot’s hugs.

While Steven rambled on about how much he thanked her for taking a chance to listen to him, Aquamarine was more focused on trying not to suffocate or be poofed under his absurdly strong grip. 

“ _Thank you so much for listening to me, Aquamarine!_ ”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, buddy.”

“Let me get this straight. You say I can get my wand back?”

Aquamarine was now in the beach house. She was on the couch, with Steven next to her and the Crystal Gems accompanying them to the right. Pearl was holding up a pack of objects that were basically stickers with her face on them, named ‘Pearl Points’.

“Yes. Now, I know that you may have been distraught over it.”

“‘Distraught’ may be an exaggeration.” 

Amethyst, who was stuffing her face with a plate full of burritos, snorted. “So you mean you were crying back there? Poor little you.”

“No! That’s not what I meant, you idiotic dullard!” 

Amethyst chuckled in response, which only made Aquamarine angrier. The latter gave Amethyst a nasty glare, and again the purple Quartz ignored her.

Pearl acted as if nothing went on and continued on. “As I was saying, I have decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself.”

It was Aquamarine’s time to snort. “Haven’t I proven myself already? I’ve made no attempt to put you in any kind of harm. I also haven’t kidnapped any humans since my incarceration.”

“That’s not the point,” Garnet interjected. “If you took some humans, we would’ve known instantly. This is a small town. Steven could count the total number of citizens on his hands.”

“Get to the point already.”

“While you have undoubtedly changed, there are still aspects of your personality that are worrying. For example, you have a tendency to give up hope when it seems that there is no way out.”

“Ok...? And why is that a bad thing? It’s a normal, human emotion, no?”

“It’s indeed very human for you to feel that way. But your problem stems from the *way* you treat it. That is, by falling into despair, you give up doing anything to help yourself. You begin to grow so passive as to do nothing becomes your main priority, and because of that, you inevitably have lost much of your usefulness as a result.”

No one spoke during Garnet’s speech, and the same happened here. Everyone just stood there, shocked yet impressed that Garnet could give such a speech. 

“Huh.” Aquamarine said after a moment of quiet. “Didn’t know you could give such a passionate yet passive-aggressive speech.”

Garnet didn’t give a response, which only added to the silence. At this point, it felt like the elephant in the room was crushing Aquamarine, so she said the one thing that she hoped would help her escape this situation:

“Fine, I’ll go with you. And I promise to become a better person.”

Following Garnet’s grin, the silence was broken. Pearl started chattering about various activities, all of which Aquamarine had a bad feeling about, while Amethyst continued stuffing her face full of food. 

Meanwhile, Steven and Aquamarine both traded glances. 

“ _What have I gotten myself into here?_ ” 

It was only a few minutes in and the small Gem was already starting to regret her decision in this matter.

Just not in the way she expected.

First of all, the Crystal Gems were not going to go on some kind of wacky and crazy adventure. Aquamarine could not express her relief in mere emotion. Instead, they settled on a more down-to-earth approach, ‘Fixing Beach City’ as Pearl called it. It didn’t take Aquamarine and for some reason Steven five seconds to tell Pearl to cut the sugarcoating. Although Steven was more gentle about it.

Right now, Aquamarine was tasked with cleaning up the streets. As she picked and stabbed at the small pile of cans, she was starting to wonder how she even allowed herself to partake in these events.

“This is pointless.” Aquamarine said to nobody in particular.

Steven heard it, however. “It’s not so bad. I’m sure you’re just grumpy.”

”Easy for you to say that. You’re a human, you’re used to this kind of stuff.”

“Look, I know that you aren’t in the best mood right now, but a little positivity doesn’t hurt!”

“Ok.” Aquamarine pulled up her lips in a smile. “Look, I’m being _positive!_ ” 

Unexpectedly, Steven burst out into laughter, much to Aquamarine’s confusion.

“Why are you laughing? I’m mocking you! Scream, shout, do something!”

”But Aquamarine, that’s actually really funny!”

“Wait, it is?”

“Yeah! You might not have noticed it, but the things you say are funny! Your like a mini Peridot!”

“That’s... kind of you to say.” Aquamarine blushed. “Like a mini Peridot, eh? I’ll take that as a complement.”

Not willing to shatter this moment of satisfaction, the little Gem managed to close her mouth and enjoy the rest of it.

When Pearl came to check on their progress, she was impressed by how much trash was collected. She congratulated Aquamarine, which even Steven expressed slight confusion at.

After their little chit-chat, Aquamarine continued on with her next objective, which was to clear out a den of little Gem creatures located at the beach. Notably, Aquamarine didn’t mutter a single word of protest. In fact, she actually seemed to be happy with working. 

While Steven was a bit creeped out at Aquamarine’s sudden enthusiasm, he couldn’t help but smile, like how a parent would look at their child.

It didn’t take too long for the duo to arrive at the den, which was located in a cave underneath the beach. 

Clearing out the Gem creatures proved to not be too difficult. The ordeal didn’t take more than ten minutes before the area was barren of all Gem life. 

Aquamarine leaned on a nearby rock with her arms below her head. Steven did the same with the ground.

“Hmm, that wasn’t so hard to do.” Aquamarine said. 

The young boy gave a nod and a muffled ‘agreed’. Although Aquamarine first interpreted as something else.

“I guess not all adventures are life threatening as this one.”

“I have a lot of non-threatening life adventures. Like... that one time I went on a ride with the Cool Kids and found Peridot’s pod thing!” 

They both chuckled at that. In exchange, Aquamarine told one of her own stories about the one time she and Topaz had gotten stuck on an alien planet. 

“It was awful. There was pretty much no way of contacting the Diamonds aside from a crummy old communicator that hadn’t been used for centuries. And those alien jerks, oh how could I ever forget them? For some stars forsaken reason, they left Topaz alone while they tormented me with their gross bodies and those absolutely _hideous_ noises they made!” Although Aquamarine spoke as it was a traumatic experience, her tone of voice implied otherwise.

“Oh, seems like that wasn’t a fun time for you.” 

“Believe me when I say that it was my first encounter with organic dirt. Most of my time there was spent trying not to even touch it!” 

Both broke down into laughter. 

“You’re not such a bad human after all.”

“It took you _that_ long for you to figure out?” Steven replied, half joking while also half serious. 

“Yeah yeah, say what you want. At first, I say you only as an obstacle, but after I was sent to live with Peridot and the others, I guess that all changed.” 

Aquamarine continued on. “The Crystal Gems, on the other hand...” 

“What about them?” Steven asked with a strong sense of enthusiasm. He lifted his head and turned to look directly at the small Gem.

“So, this is the part that you’re most excited in, hmm? I suppose that’s understandable. Well then, I’ll say what I think of them.”

Like with you at first, I thought of them as mere annoyances, like how a higher class being would treat a slave. Or like rebels. I guess there still are Gems on Earth after all. Thought this was some planet Gemkind never set foot upon...

When I first met them, back at that fateful day, I immediately recognized them as the remaining rebels that I heard from rumors. A Pearl, a fusion, and a pint sized Amethyst? That’s definitely what I heard. 

They put a much greater fight than I expected. Pearl especially. Did you see how quick she moved? It could be compared to elite Gems! Amethyst, for an overcooked Gem, also managed to defeat me in a short amount of time. And how could I forget Garnet? The 

Eventually, I came to respect the Crystal Gems, little by little. They’re genuinely interesting and kind Gems to be around, and I can definitely see why Rose decided to keep these three - no four - as her primary companions. I still don’t forgive them for wrecking my ships, though.”

For a moment, Steven was stunned. He never considered Aquamarine to be the kind to launch such a speech. While he very well knew that the tiny Gem was capable of rambling on, the only times she had done so was when she was angry.

Steven didn’t know what to say, so he got up and motioned Aquamarine to do the same. 

As the two were making their way out, Aquamarine was noticeably more chipper than usual, even considering her behavior when Pearl praised her.

“So? How was it? Did you like it? You know, I don’t usually do these kind of speeches, so I had to put in a lot of effort in this.”

“Ok, I get it!” Steven stated in a playful tone. “It was good. Really, really good. You were great!”

“Really? Do you mean it, or is that what you said to get me to shut up?”

“What makes you think that? I really mean it. It’s just that, well, you know, you went on for a really long time back there, and I guess I got bored after a while.“ 

“When you put it like that... it actually does some sense. But really, thanks for the compliment.”

“No problem!”

There was little conversation on the way to the beach house and as they completed their remaining tasks. Not the kind where there’s tension, as Aquamarine put it. It was more of the satisfied kind. 

The two were met with praise upon arriving. Mostly Aquamarine, although Steven got his fair share.

After the praising was finished, Pearl and Garnet took a step back. Amethyst began to cough and retch. Before long, she spat out Aquamarine’s wand. It was covered in spit, what appeared to be stomach fluids, and even chunks of food. 

Aquamarine would’ve vomited in the spot if she was a human. Steven barely managed to hold back one as well.

“Here you go little buddy!” Amethyst cheerfully stated as she approached the much smaller Gem.

“Uh, hold on! I know I said I wanted to have my wand back but you can’t be serious with this!”

“Aw, cheer up! Isn’t this what you wanted, after all?” 

“Not like this, nOT LIK-“

The Quartz plopped the object in Aquamarine’s hair. Her saliva seeped into the Gem’s hair, and a terrible stench followed soon after.

Disgust was far too much of an understatement to describe Aquamarine’s expression. Steven held back his horror and disgust with an ever-growing smile. Pearl snorted, while the subtle hint of a smirk appeared on Garnet’s face.

The room was starting to feel dangerously close for Aquamarine. With little thought put into it, Aquamarine inserted the wand into her gemstone and left with a quick “ _Bye_.” 

She ended flying face first into a wall. Pearl’s suppressed laughter leaked. 

Once she regained her senses, Aquamarine promptly exited the house, adding in a “AND YOU’RE DISGUSTING, AMETHYST!”

Aquamarine wasted no time going for the soap and brush. She dumped her wand into the tiny pool and dumped nearly all of the former. 

The Gem spent ten full minutes washing the item before mustering the courage to grab. Even when all traces of Amethyst’s stench were off, she still dipped the wand for a minute before drying it with a towel.

Lapis was the first to notice the object sitting on Aquamarine’s head. 

“Hey, that’s the wand you had, right?”

“What does it look like, you eternal moper?”

“Looks like a small, blue stick to me.”

“Are you- oh, forget it. Yes, it _is_ my wand. Don’t worry, I won’t go kidnapping humans again. Not that I’m interested in the slightest anymore.”

“Cool. Congrats.” Lapis decided not to say anything more on the subject, and Aquamarine was grateful for that.

Upon entering the attic, the Gem wasted no time putting the object in a box. After that, she leaned on it.

She couldn’t believe she got it back. Steven assured her that the Gems would eventually cave in and hand it over, but Aquamarine didn’t expect it to be so easy.

It really couldn’t be complained about in the long run. Now that she had finally repaired her relationships with the Crystal Gems and managed to reacquire her prized possession, she had everything she wanted.

Except for one thing.

Peridot. 

For some reason, Aquamarine started to feel closer to her now. They were always close, but now?

She was starting to feel there was something more to it. She couldn’t explain it, but Aquamarine started to feel more ‘attached’ to her now.

“ _Pfft, big deal. I’ll look into it tomorrow_.”


	14. Finale - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aquamarine realize her feelings towards Peridot.

Emotions were a strange thing. At least to Aquamarine. 

The first emotion she felt that wasn’t either pride or smugness was confusion. Confusion at being beat, of course. 

While she resided in her gemstone, the second one was fear, followed by anger. 

When she reformed, Aquamarine essentially went through all three of them. 

Afterward, she started feeling all sorts of emotions, to sorrow, to happiness that wasn’t born of her own narcissism, to even jealousy at one point. 

After some time, Aquamarine prided herself as a ‘master’ of emotions, being able to identify all the main ones and get a good grasp on some of the ‘lesser’ known ones.   
Lapis pointed out that the title couldn’t have meant less.

However, there was still one emotion she could not grasp. 

Her feelings towards Peridot.

Whenever she saw her, Aquamarine felt her heart flutter quite a bit. A blush would usually arise on her face, and she found it to be difficult to talk back. 

All the while, Peridot seemed to be oblivious to what Aquamarine was feeling. More often than not would she make an insensitive comment and help Aquamarine get up. This, for some reason, left a feeling that a hole had been placed in the cyan Gem’s chest.

And here she stood, trying to figure out the cause for this strange feeling. 

“ _Could it be happiness? No, happiness makes you smile and feel warm inside. This just makes me yearn for something. Could it be that something has made me excited? No, that runs into the same problems as before..._ ”

Eventually, Aquamarine was starting to get a headache. For a short amount of time, Aquamarine gave up on the task. It didn’t last for long though, and once again, Aquamarine was racking off the culprits for this odd feeling.

“ _Now, should I ask someone on this matter? They have more experiences with these Earthly things, that’s for sure. Especially Topaz, who still can’t stand being unfused for more than a minute. And when they’re actually apart? Urgh..._ ”

Aquamarine realized she was rambling on again and quickly snapped back to her senses. She would need to fix up that bad habit of hers. 

A few minutes passed by, and Aquamarine still was on square one. She was quickly growing frustrated, yet she kept ongoing. That was one thing Peridot likes about her; she made sure she reached her goals, even if took the whole day to do so. 

After taking some time to consider her options, Aquamarine sighed and closed her eyes. She would have to ask Topaz for help. It was the only way to do this, and Aquamarine wasn’t all that happy to rely on her for help.

She stopped for a little while and asked herself why she still held a grudge against her. Maybe it was because she got along better with everyone else. Maybe it was because everyone liked her at the very start, while Aquamarine’s only friend was Peridot. Seven didn’t count back then, as she despised him.

Or maybe it was because she was simply jealous of everything Topaz had that Aquamarine didn’t. Whatever the reason was, Aquamarine’s mind was already made up.

“So, what do you need my help for?” 

Finding Topaz hadn’t been too hard, as she was in the back of the barn. What was the hardback point was trying to figure out how she could phrase he question without making it sound stupid. 

“Well... it’s kind of hard to explain. I’m not sure you would understand it.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can understand what you’re saying. If I misinterpret though, there’s the issue with you...”

In the span of a few seconds, Aquamarine went from calm from flustered. 

“Ack- _Topaz_! Even you?!”

All the yellow Gem gave in response was a cheeky smirk. 

“ _Great, even Topaz’s on to this now. All that’s left is for Pumpkin is to magically grow arms and an understandable voice._ ”

“Anyways, moving on. See, there’s this thing in my chest that feels weird, but I don’t know what’s it called. Quite the odd feeling, I tell you.”

Topaz raised an eyebrow at Aquamarine’s statement. The little Gem was knowledgeable on many things, but what she was trying to explain was odd, to say the least. It wasn’t like her to give such a speech.

“Could you say that again? This time, with some more effort put into it?”

Aquamarine nodded. She rattled off again, this time with more emphasis given. 

“Hmm. I think I understand what you’re trying to say.”

“Really? Than decipher it. It’s been driving my nuts.” 

“There’s no ‘deciphering’ involved in this, Aquamarine. In fact, this is actually incredibly simple. It’s just something you haven’t got a good grasp on.”

“What?” A bewildered expression placed itself on Aquamarine’s face as fast as the flustered one disappeared.

“Remember when we first met? How you told me that all fusions all grew sentimental?” 

“Yes. If you’re still angry at me for that, than I apologize for making an insensitive remark at your expense. My head was still deep in Homeworld stuff back then.”

“Oh no, I’ve already forgiven you for that. But what you’re feeling is called ‘love’.”

“‘Love’? Say it again? Is that some kind of foreign Earth phrase I haven’t been able to come with terms yet?”

It was Topaz’s turn to have her face droop. Was Aquamarine serious, or was she so ignorant that she was completely oblivious to the mere thought of love?

“You’re kidding, right? I’m here with you, I’m a walking, talking example of that very emotion!”

“Right. I almost forget you were two Gems rolled in one. So what you’re telling me is that I’m in love with someone?”

“Yes! Who is it that you’re in love with? Is lit Lapis? Peridot? A human, maybe?!” Topaz may as well have started listing off all the possible love interests for Aquamarine. Thankfully, Aquamarine quickly placed a finger on her lips.

“Calm down there buddy. I never agreed to have you ramble on and on about this matter. I came to you for help, don’t forget that.”

Topaz responded with rolling her eyes and pushing the finger off. 

“Oh come on, don’t give me that look,” Aquamarine muttered. “And to answer your previous question, I guess I do get a bit... flustered around Peridot. Sometimes.”

Topaz squealed with delight. “Ooooh! I guess knew you had a crush on Peridot! It was so obvious, you know.”

“Excuse me?”

“Didn’t you notice? It was painfully obvious that you were harboring some kind of affection for her. Those things you were doing for her, and the way you insisted that they were purely platonic. You also got way more emotional towards her too.”

“Did I actually act like that? If so, why didn’t you or Lapis come up to me sooner and tell me that I was in love with Peridot.”

“It’s fun watching you trying to get a hold on human experiences.”

“You’re a massive jerk, you know that?” Aquamarine growled. 

The bulky Gem’s smirk evolved into a full-blown smile. “Whatever you say, my Aquamarine.” She even did a mock Diamond salute. Aquamarine was considerably shocked.

“ _Whatever happened to the kind Topaz from a moment before?_ ” 

“Are you going to continue this childish charade or will you help me out here?”

“Sure. But can I say how much it’s fun to tease you?”

Aquamarine’s only response was to give Topaz a death glare, while also spewing out a steady stream of curses. Topaz could only suppress a chuckle.

The rest of the day came and went in a blur. For the most part, Aquamarine was occupied with researching familiar romantic gestures. After her initial conversation with Aquamarine, Topaz actually proved to be something of worth to Aquamarine, helping her out in the researching process. The mean spirited jokes remained, but they were only a few here and there, and Aquamarine didn’t seem to be bothered by them.  
She   
Thoughts were racing through the little Gem’s mind. They were mostly trivial, such as ‘ _What kinds of flowers should I include?_ ’, ‘ _When should confess it to Peridot_ ’, and the one that made Aquamarine laugh out loud, ‘ _Should I reform with a fancy suit?’_ ’.

Amongst all of it, there was still one thought that remained.

“ _Will Peridot accept my love confession_ ’?”

She knew it was corny to think of it that way, but the possibility of rejection lingered in her mind. She definitely was no expert on romance, even with all the CPH material crammed in her head. Heck, while Aquamarine could give a snarky remark or two, emotional speeches and confessions were not her specialties. 

“I don’t see the problem with this,” Topaz replies when Aquamarine told her of her fears. “You just have to tell her that you like her. It’s not a big deal, you’ve gone through much worse before.”

“Those were all physical stuff. This is emotional. Haven’t you seen what happened to humans were they get rejected? CPH demonstrated it well with Jane and Ricky.”

“Not everyone is like that. Peridot is much more accepting. I assure you, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” 

“Well, you do have a point there. Still, there’s this part of me that lingers around.” 

Topaz stopped what she was doing. She looked Aquamarine directly in her eyes. “Would you mind telling me more about that thought?”

Aquamarine gave a nod. “Despite everything, there’s this planet of my mind that tries to goad me into believing that when the moment comes, everything will fall apart.”

“You’re not like this. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just... help me out. Be my ‘wingman’ for me, would you?”

“Wingman. That’s what someone who assists someone else in an ordeal, right!”

“Yep. So, will you do it?”

“Whatever I can do to help you.”

Aquamarine beamed at her. “I can’t say how much I’m thankful for you. Let’s just say, I’m glad I didn’t execute you back on Homeworld.” 

Aquamarine was looking for a similarly worded phrase, but the fact still stood. Never was she more grateful to have friends like Topaz before. 

And at this moment, she was especially grateful that she decided to try and make friends with the rest of the lot. It wasn’t related to current events, but it was still something Aquamarine would’ve seriously regretted if she rejected everyone.

Back on the topic of the above question, Topaz didn’t seem fazed by it. She smiled and went on her way. 

Aquamarine went back to her research. She looked up some common techniques for asking out, including the aforementioned bouquet of flowers, setting up a nice date in advance, and sending a gift to the loved one. Aquamarine scrapped the second option, but the bouquet was necessary, and she would consider the third one.

After wrapping up, the small Gem flew over to a miniature bed Peridot made for her. Although she never used it due to her never learning how to properly sleep, she did use occasionally to take a rest break. Today was one of those days.

With that very break, she was given a moment to clear out her head and to relax. Everyone needed a break, even immortal space rocks. Without it, the headaches wouldn’t be going away any time soon. 

After ten minutes, Aquamarine got up. While clearing out her head did wonders for her, and the headaches disappeared, there were still some troubling thoughts lingering around. She did a couple of stretches, rubbed her eyes, grabbed a half-finished bouquet made of plastic, and flew out of the window, put into the flower field.

It was remarkable what a daily visit to that place could do. Aquamarine hadn’t anticipated that a small bed of flowers could turn into something that took up a large part of the backyard. 

Many kinds of flowers were present. Petunias, roses, orchards, lilies, and more. Personally, the roses were Aquamarine’s favorite, but the orchards were definitely a close second.

Aquamarine took a handful of all kinds and placed them on top of the unfinished bouquet. Sure, it was going to look messy, and some of it might’ve looked a poor man’s rainbow, but it was the most creative thing Aquamarine could think of.

After picking an adequate amount of them, Aquamarine flew back to the workshop. There, she found some tape and glue. She made haste on finishing the item, and in a couple of minutes, the work on the bouquet was done, albeit it was a bit sloppier than Aquamarine would’ve liked.

With that finished, Aquamarine moved on to the next step. Setting up an elaborate event. 

At first, she dismissed it as corny and incredibly cliche. But as she thought about it more, she considered it a nice addition to the upcoming confession.

The Gem thought about it more. She began to fly in a circle. 

“What kind of things could she add to ‘spice it up’, as the humans say? I suppose I could add candles as that website said. But do we have any here? We do have some that look like candles, but they’re electronic. They might make good substitutes.”

In the midst of everything, she grabbed a notebook and began to write everything she planned to do. 

After thirty minutes of thinking, gathering objects, noting them down, and some doodling, Aquamarine settled down.

Turns out, there were candles after all. When she asked Peridot about it, she simply shrugged and said, “Don’t know. Whoever was here last probably left them.“

In front sat a table. It was less of a table than a slab of wood glued and drilled into four skinny legs of wood, but it was still a table, all in all.

Sitting on the handmade table was a glass cup filled with dirt and a few roses and a tablecloth. 

Aquamarine nearly snorted at the absurdity. She had gone out of her way to prepare such an elaborate room for this occasion, and she did with one of the most stereotypical. Aquamarine nearly couldn’t believe it. A month ago, she would’ve flat-out guffawed at the mere possibility. 

Instead, she was content with it. Aquamarine took it as a sign of development. She was proud of that, proud that she got accustomed to Earth things such as this, and proud of the fact that she managed to break out of Homeworld’s ideals.

The Gem couldn’t bring herself to believe that she had been so oblivious to everything. How there was an actual Earth and not just some myth, how nice and friendly Earth was, and how Homeworld was willing to rob a planet full of sentient life over some resources they easily could’ve gotten somewhere else. If she could, Aquamarine fully would’ve called her a dunderhead to her face and announced her plans to defect. Of course, that was only a fantasy, something so wildly impossible for even a fantasy, but she couldn’t help but dream of it.

She was letting her thoughts get the better of her again. She would have to learn to control that habit of hers.

After snapping back to reality, Aquamarine checked the time. It was nearing five-thirty if the sun was any indication. 

That meant Aquamarine had been slacking off for too long. Aquamarine quickly got back on her feet and started looking over the list for one last time.

While most of the objectives were cleared and marked by an X, two of them were still uncompleted. Namely, she had failed to actually clear the attic of the debris that littered it, and the awful stench of it. It was smelled of oil and sweat. It was so bad, not even the rats would come up here to sleep.

Firstly, Aquamarine swept the room, even though there wasn’t much dust in the place in the first place. Next, she retrieved a bucket full of water, soap, and a sponge. Cleaning the wooden floor was a piece of cake for the little Gem.

The stench was a different matter. Even after a couple of minutes of scrubbing and slathering soap everywhere, fragments of the smell remained, and no amount of scented candles or soap would completely eliminate it. In the end, Aquamarine gave up, mentally declaring that she and Peridot would have to deal with it.

Afterward, Aquamarine took one last look around the attic. 

It was the most work she had done in a while, and one of the most enjoyable. It seemed like it emitted a calm aura, one that made Aquamarine, who had been up and bouncing from one task to another, slide down and be at peace.

Ultimately, Aquamarine was proud of it. Admittedly, it was a project that was made with haste, and in her opinion, she gladly would have asked for a day or two to work on it.

But the end result was definitely impressive. For something that was made in a couple of hours, Aquamarine couldn’t have asked for anything better. She could only dream of what Peridot would have to say on the subject.

Peridot. That name had been put on the back burner for quite some time. In the passion of everything, the cyan Gem almost forgot this was for her.

Was that really a bad thing though? Aquamarine decided on simply ‘no’. If she was always on her mind during the afternoon, Aquamarine very much would’ve been prone to freaking out and getting less done.

“ _I shouldn’t get so obsessed with her that she remains on my mind at all times. After all, humans don’t think of there love interests all the time. Why should I have it any different?_ ”

By her side sat a couple of CPH comics. Aquamarine snatched them. 

There she found various pictures of CPH characters kissing, blushing, and in general, having a good time. Aquamarine smiled, relishing the idea of being able to have that luxury very soon. So soon, in fact, it would be tomorrow.

She decided to call it quits for the day. After all, she would need all the energy she could get.


	15. Finale - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is near, and Aquamarine is ready for it.

The day had come. And Aquamarine was all the more excited about it. 

She spent nearly the whole night thinking about it. She tossed and turned for hours, the thought of it filling her with both fear and excitement. It was unnatural for her, and it did not go unnoticed.

“Could you keep it down over there?” said a groggy Lapis, who woke up in the night.

“Sorry about that. I’m just very excited about tomorrow.” 

“I know. Everyone knows. Except Peridot, that is.” 

Aquamarine’s eyes raised a little bit. “Eh? You didn’t tell her?”

“Why? What’s the fun with her knowing everything? No one bothered to go and tell her yesterday morning, so why should we? Isn’t it better as a surprise.”

“I guess your right. Still, it does feel kind of wrong not to inform her on this.”

Lapis shrugged and laid back down. “I won’t force you to tell her. It is your choice, after all.”

“All right. Thanks, Lapis.”

“Same thing to you. See you in the morning.”

Unusual for her, Aquamarine managed to fall to sleep. When morning came, the first thing she felt was grogginess. At first, she was confused, but she later passed it off and continued on.

The Gem was pleased at the setting. The majority of it was in the same place as yesterday, with only one or two things moved.

Aquamarine got to work by setting up the plates and cutlery. She nor Peridot was going to eat, that was for sure. Aquamarine added it just because of the way it spiced up the room.

She than placed and lit the rest of the candles that were out of place. Once that was done, she double checked, and than triple checked.

She was anxious, if her trembling hands were any indication. She nearly dropped the candles on more than one occasion, and she had to stop to regain her composure once. 

“ _Stars, why am I so nervous about this? I thought I got over this yesterday._ ” 

Aquamarine stopped what she was doing. The Gem closed her eyes and started to take deep breathes. 

“ _Calm down. I have nothing to worry about. You have nothing to worry about. This will all go smoothly. Go with the flow, like Steven once said._ ”

“ _Everything is counting on this day. You’re past the point of no return._ ”

That was the thought that snapped Aquamarine back to her senses. She continued on with her tasks.

“Aaaand... done! Finally!”

Aquamarine landed on a wooden crate. She wiped a couple of sweat beads of her forehead and gemstone. She looked at her creation.

Aquamarine thought the attic from yesterday was the peak of her creativity. She was clearly not pushed to her peak.

The entire workshop was now stylized into a classic dining room, straight from the movies. The handmade table was more stable and more decorated. Curtains hid the windows from the two lovers, not that anything but birds would be able to see through it. Scented candles gave the room a peachy smell. Roses were all over the place, and there was even music playing. 

Aquamarine almost lost herself in it. While it was incredibly cliche, Aquamarine was proud of it, and nothing anyone would say could change her mind on it.

After self-indulging in her creation, Aquamarine took a peep down. Peridot was still asleep alongside Pumpkin, Lapis, and Topaz.

Aquamarine was momentarily confused on why the green Gem was still asleep before taking a look at an electrical clock. It read seven thirty AM. 

The Gem was so tied up with her own affairs that she entirely ignored what the time was. So, to pass the time, she went to the lower level, took the remote control, flipped on the TV, grabbed a pillow, and leaned with her hands behind her head.

As the CPH cartoon flashed between her eyes, Aquamarine spotted Pumpkin coming to her out of the corner of her eye. 

The pet made herself content with snuggling up to the Gem. Rather than protest, Aquamarine let her stay. She was cooler with Pumpkin now, although she was still freaked out by her size and Pumpkin’s habit of covering Aquamarine with her saliva every time she licked her.

In return, Pumpkin made Aquamarine interested in the idea of human pets. To her surprise, when researching the characteristics of dogs, she found that Pumpkin was quite similar to one. Whether or not that was intentional on Steven’s part was still a question the Gem had yet to answer. 

As the pet got more comfortable, Aquamarine found herself scratching the chin of her. It was an instinct, Aquamarine could tell, by how nonchalantly she did it. In the past, she would’ve at least took a moment to think about it. It was a sign that she was less nervous of Pumpkin than before. It was also a sign that she viewed Pumpkin as a pet rather a than a vegetable monster.

Aquamarine looked at Pumpkin and started wondering, “ _Could Steven make more of these plant pets? I haven’t seen him do it, only heard it from Peridot and Lapis, but if he can, I’ve got some questions for him._ ”

The sound of a yawn activated Aquamarine’s instincts to shut the TV off. She turned around to see Topaz arising from sleep. She sighed out of relief. 

“I see you’re up early, Topaz.”

“Huh? What’s the time now?”

“Seven something.”

“Oh. What about you?”

“I’m waiting for Peridot to get up. The whole ‘love confession’ thing, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. Want me to wake her up?”

“Nah. She doesn’t like to be woken up by someone else. She’ll get all grumpy and not really talk with anybody else until she gets over it.”

“Right. I remember that time where Lapis tried to get her up by slapping her with water tentacles. It didn’t end well for either of them.”

The two laughed at the memory. What started out as a simple wake up call turned out into a full blown cat fight, with Peridot submerged underwater and Lapis getting dunked with a bucket Peridot managed to control.

“That was hilarious,” Aquamarine said between gasps of air, “It looked like something straight out of a cartoon.”

“We were practically dying not to tell them,” Topaz agreed, “If they found out, they would _not_ take it well.”

After the laughter ended, the duo remained in their positions with content smiles on their faces. 

Later on, Topaz went to watch CPH as well. As with Pumpkin, Aquamarine didn’t object. 

“Can I ask you a question, Topaz?”

“Ask away.”

“When did your components meet? Like, when they fell in love?”

“That, was a long time ago. Before I was even drafted in your crew. It all started a few thousand years ago, when I was a guard at Yellow Diamond’s palace...”

“I thought all Topazes were supposed to be sent to guard colonies,” Aquamarine interrupted.

“That’s true. But there’s a specific portion of elite Gems that are sent to serve under a Diamond. I was one of those Gems.”

Anyways, I was on patrol with a couple other Gems. We had just finished scouting for any traitorous Gems, and we are exhausted. The leader, an unruly Quartz, decided it would be for the best to take a break.

Another Topaz sat next to me and engaged in chit chat. While we were talking about duties, I felt... attracted to her in a way. I still don’t understand that, even now. 

Anyways, our shift was over and we went back inside the palace. But that moment was one I’d never forget. For a short amount of time afterwards, I would see her and engage in conversation.

Eventually, her and I were called up to be a part of your crew. We were also given permission to fuse for long amounts of time. It took some time to understand each other, but our relationship was upgraded to a romantic one. And the rest is history.”

“I have to say, that was longer than I expected. Thought it would be ‘met on spaceship, fell in love, permafuse, the end.’”

When Topaz’s eyes narrowed, Aquamarine quickly added in, “No offense though. Like I said, it was quick.”

Th narrowness disappeared. Aquamarine made a ‘phew’ sound and wiped off an imaginary bead of sweat. 

“No offense taken as well. I just wished you would think before speaking.”

Aquamarine scratched the back of her head. “Yeah, that’s another bad habit I should work on.”

They sat in silence. Along the way, Lapis also got up and strolled over to watch CPH as well. 

It wasn’t until Peridot got up that Aquamarine snapped off the TV. She went to help Peridot up. 

“Good morning. How’re you doing?”

“Morning, fine. What’s the time?”

“Around seven o clock. I’ve got something to show you.”

Peridot was too groggy to answer. At the front, Topaz and Lapis gave her a thumbs up. She smiled and dragged Peridot up to the workshop.

Lapis glances at Topaz. “You think this’ll work?” 

Topaz responded by nodding. “I’ve got the upmost faith in her. She wouldn’t waste an entire day preparing an intricate room for nothing, would she?”

“Fair enough.”

“What is it that you want to show me? I can’t see very well.”

“Here’s some water I got. Rub this in your eyes and stay here.”

Peridot obeyed. Aquamarine stood on her shoulder.

When she finished, her eyes could’ve bulged out of her sockets. 

There the room stood in front of her. Peridot was nonplussed. Aquamarine didn’t say anything, instead choosing to soak it up with an ever growing grin.

“This... this is amazing. You did this all by yourself?”

“In a day, no less.”

“ _In a day?!_ ”

“Not making this up. Come, have a seat. I need to tell you something.”

Peridot was too shocked to say anything. She took the right seat, while the left for Aquamarine.

“So, what is it that you want with me? And why in this room? In fact, what’s the reason for this anyways?”

“I’ll get to all of those in a moment. You see, I’ve been wanting to tell you something for quite some time now.”

“I’m listening.”

Aquamarine’s eyes darted to the ground as she picked at her dress. “Well, I’m a bit nervous to say it. Or maybe it’s your reaction I’m scared of.”

“What are you saying? Aqua, what’s going on? Is it so important that you had to make this room just for it?”

“Please, settle down. I trust you, I’ll explain everything in a moment.”

Peridot didn’t say a word. She sat still as a board, of watching Aquamarine for any kind of a reaction. 

Aquamarine had a small smile that showed there was no harm behind this. Peridot found it unsettling, but didn’t say it out loud.

“Now, can you please tell me what’s going on here? Not that I’m complaining, this is magnificent and a true piece of art, but this is coming from you, after all.”

“No worries. I’m just glad that you accepted my invitation. I was afraid that everything I’ve did would be for nothing.”

When Peridot opened her mouth, Aquamarine was quicker to speak. “Ok, I’ll tell you why I brought you here. I’m in love with you.”

Peridot’s eyes widened. Her jaw was wide open before she noticed and put it back in place.

The two sat in silence. Peridot went observing the decor, and Aquamarine played with the cutlery. 

“Yeah. This might come as a surprise to you. It came as one to me as well. At first, I would fell Ike there were butterflies in my stomach, and my face would feel hot, but when I came to Topaz for help, she basically confirmed I had a crush on you. So, I decided the best way to tell you would be to set this whole thing up so we could have a ‘romantic setting’, like Topaz said. It took an entire day, and I was burnt out from the work, but by my standards it was worth it, don’t you agree?” 

“That is, uh, a very elaborate way to tell someone you like them. You really didn’t need to do all this just to tell me you this. Once again, I’m not saying I don’t like this. It’s just... what can I say without offending you? Over the top.”

“So do you feel the same towards me or...?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, I like you too! Not in a friendly way, but in a romantic sense.”

Peridot pressed her hand against her chest. A blush arose on Aquamarine’s face. 

“I’ve been feeling the same way as you do for a long time now. I’m not even sure how long it’s been, but I’m confident it started somewhere around three weeks ago, she you were still learning about the Earth. Ever since then, I would get flustered whenever you were around. Heck, even now I still get blushes when you’re around.”

Aquamarine now wore a shocked expression. “Huh. And I thought I had difficulties spitting it out. You harbored that crush for weeks? I praise you. I can barely keep something from others without having the urge to tell them.”

“Same. Although I am a bit better at concealing it, don’t you think?”

“Yes, you are.” 

Nothing came out of either the two Gems mouthes. Peridot looked around, while Aquamarine places the cutlery back down.

Aquamarine sighed before she opened her mouth again. “So. What do we do know? We both like each other.”

Peridot didn’t have a general response as to that. Aquamarine gritted her teeth. She curled her hands into fists and slammed them into the table. “Drat. This was a terrible mistake. How could I mess up so badly?”

“Hey now. This isn’t a failure. We both confessed, and that’s what’s important.”

The green Gem placed her hand in the former’s shoulder. “Quite the opposite, actually. We both accomplished what we set out to do. This wasn’t a failure in any sense.”

“Are you sure about that? I set all of this up, and the moments barely l-“

She didn’t get a chance to finish, as Peridot brought her lips to hers in a kiss. 

It was long and admittedly sloppy, but Aquamarine definitely wasn’t complaining about it. In fact, this was her dream for a long time.

What the two didn’t know was how loud it was. Topaz and Lapis could hear the sounds from below. While Topaz was smiling from ear to ear, Lapis was trying her best to contain her snickering. 

“Do they even notice how loud their smooching is?” 

“How cares? I can tolerate the incessant noise for this!”

When the two broke up the kiss, Aquamarine sat there, stunned by what just happened. Her face was hot, much hotter than before. The taste of Peridot’s lips, as strange as it sounded, was present on her own. It was bland, to her surprise. She thought it would’ve tasted... a bit differently. That was the best she could describe it as.

A serene smile was on Aquamarine’s face, with one appearing on Peridot’s soon after. 

“Let’s do it again.”

Aquamarine simply nodded. 

Again, they pressed lips each other, only this time, it was more careful, more delicate, yet more passionate than the first. 

When they heard the second kiss, Topaz may as well have exploded into joy. Lapis ceases her snickering and gave a small smile.

“ _They finally did it._ ” 

She tugged Topaz’s arm. She pointed towards outside.

“Come on. Let’s give them some space.”

Topaz didn’t give a reply. It was unnecessary; she already had agreed.

The second kiss was broken after some time. They looked at each other for what could’ve been a few minutes or twenty; it was hard to as Aquamarine didn’t bother to keep track of the time.

Peridot pulled Aquamarine into a hug. Aquamarine did not fight back.

“I love you, Peridot.”

“I love you too, Aquamarine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After many long months, this story is finally complete! Thank you all who have read and contributed to this story!


End file.
